Sealmaster
by Telas Of The Organization
Summary: After the fight at the Valley of the End, Naruto begins his journey back to Konoha. Going the wrong way. He ends up discovering a secret that could grant him the power he needs to protect those precious to him, or it could cause the destruction of Konoha.
1. Awakening

-1Disclaimer: I do not presently, or have ever, owned Naruto, or any characters, situations, or settings that exist within Naruto. I am using characters and settings that do not belong to me and I will not make any money/receive any gifts from the writing of this story. This is merely practice for writing and I will remove any and all stories that I post at the Owner's request.

Prologue: Awakening

He awoke to the sensation of little pinpricks across his body and a chilling cold that seemed to penetrate him to his core. Shivering he pushed himself up into a sitting position and with his other hand brushed the damp locks of blond hair from his eyes. A groan escaped his lips as a jolt of pain shot through his body.

Confusion clouded his mind. What had happened, how had he gotten here? Then it all returned to him in an instant. The mission, the conflicts with the supposed kidnappers, and finally the fight with Him. With Sasuke. Finally he remembered his defeat. With a cry somewhere between sorrow and rage he slumped forward and struck the ground with his fist. He remained that way for a moment before his shivering got worse and his teeth began to chatter. At last he forced himself to his feet.

Looking around him he surveyed the damage that the terrain around him had suffered. He saw the craters, the torn up landscape, and paused reliving the battle for a moment with a melancholy frown on his face. At last with a sigh he turned in the direction he believed that he had come from and started off slowly with the rain mingling with the few tears that were slipping unnoticed from his eyes.

A few minutes after he had left, a man and a dog rushed into the clearing from a different direction, stopped in awe at the destruction that lay before them. Slowing walking forward he saw something glinting on the ground. Reaching down and picking it up he saw that it was a forehead protector and that going through it was a single slash.

_Deep in the forest_

Naruto shivered as he walked quietly through the woods, his head down. He knew that he was lost but at this time he really didn't care. The cold however was beginning to take its toll on him and he knew he needed to find a place to dry off and warm up or he would die.

Looking up to scout out a place to stay he saw something deeper in the forest. It looked vaguely like a building of some sort so he started towards it. As he got closer, the structure became clearer and he could see that it was ruins of some kind. Large stone buildings that were all set close to one another with stone walkways going from building to building on several different levels, many of which appeared to have collapsed. Some of the buildings were missing walls and trees and plants seemed to be growing on, and around the pillars used to support the walkways and the buildings themselves. He thought it looked like a dump.

First, taking shelter under one of the ceilings that still had at least three walls he pulled off his wet shirt and pants. Standing there shivering in his boxers he saw that a small tree had died and collapsed into the building leaving most of its branches dry. Quickly tearing off several large branches as well as several smaller ones for kindling, Naruto was able to use his flint that he had in his pack to start a fire. He then placed his clothes close enough to the fire that they would soon dry, but not close enough that they would catch fire.

Drawing as close as he dared to the fire Naruto wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, fighting off the effects of hypothermia. From time to time he got up and would get some more wood for the fire. As time went on his clothes slowly dried and finally with their help he managed to finally feel warm. As he began felling better his curiosity about the ruins grew. When the rain finally stopped a few minutes after that, it was the final push. No longer able to wait, Naruto decided to go explore the ruins.

Walking deeper into the ruins Naruto figured that they used to be part of a city of some kind. Naruto figured that anything of any interest to him would probably be near the center of the structures. Walking through the remains of what looked like they may have been streets at one time, Naruto headed towards the middle of this ancient city looking for anything that might give him a clue to the history of this local. Glancing around his eyes hit on a low squat building that looked like it had better endured the years than it's counterparts. Thinking that it was as good a place as any to start his exploration Naruto headed to the opening that apparently served as entrances to these ancient buildings.

The insides were, at first glance unpromising. A large room with no windows that was mostly empty, vegetation had apparently taken over and was thriving. Naruto was about to give up when he noticed all the way in the back there was what looked like a stone doorway that looked to be in good condition. Naruto pushed his way through the vegetation that was blocking access to the door, before he leaned against the door and pushed. Not being able to budge the door Naruto was about to use shadow clones to help him when he noticed the handle carved into the door. With a sheepish glance around, half expecting someone to appear and laugh at him Naruto put his hand on the handle and pulled. With a sound like a jar being opened the door pulled open revealing an unlit staircase spiraling downward into blackness, with unlit torches every meter or so.

Hesitating for a moment on the threshold, Naruto stepped down onto the first step placing one hand on the wall to prevent himself from slipping in the dark. With a whooshing sound a seal that he had placed his hand on activated. A line that traveled along the wall lit up and ignited every torch that it passed. Naruto took a step back with a gasp of surprise. Waiting a minute to see if anything else was going to happen, Naruto looked at the seal that set off the unexpected reaction. It looked as if the seal had been carved into the wall and then some kind of paint had been placed inside of it. After a few more moments of uneventful waiting, Naruto began to descend the staircase keeping a careful watch for any more seals that might be on the walls or floor. With every step he took, a small cloud of dust arose, causing him to sneeze a few times. After descending for what seemed an eternity, he finally reached the bottom. At the bottom of the stairs appeared to be an antechamber of a sorts with lit torches every half meter providing good light. The walls seemed lined with carvings that seemed to depict everything from ancient battles to farming and childbirth. One thing that caught Naruto's attention was that every person had tattoos somewhere on their body, all in beautiful patterns that reminded Naruto of the seal that light the torches. Looking past the carvings Naruto saw something that peaked his interests once more, a door.

Closer inspection of the door revealed that it had been embedded with seals similar to that which had been used to light the torches. There was one difference however that even a person that didn't know seals would have immediately recognized. There were a series of slashes through the stone and seal rendering it unusable. With a frustrated sigh Naruto tried to force the door open with his shoulder, when that proved useless he placed his hands into his favorite seal.

"Kage Bushin!" with a loud poof an exact copy of Naruto appeared next to him.

Both Naruto's began to press against the door trying to force it open. With a groan both stopped trying to force their way in after a minute of futile pushing. One looked at the other, both grinned and an instant later the door had been demolished by the power of the Rasengan. As the copy dispelled as abruptly as it had appeared, the real Naruto stepped through the doorway and looked at the large room that he had worked so hard to reach.

It appeared to be a kind of library or study of a sorts as it was filled with scrolls of all shapes and sizes. There were what appeared to be stone benches and chairs around enormous stone tables. Shelves also made of stone spanned all the walls and took up most of the space each filled with scrolls. Scattered on the floor were a few scrolls that looked like they had been dropped accidentally by someone in a hurry and the shelves looked a little disorganized.

Stepping forward, Naruto scooped up a scroll of the floor and carefully opened it. It seemed to be in good condition considering the age of the ruins. Looking at it he was surprised to see that he could understand most of the words that had been written there. Only a few words and symbols were unknown to him and as he looked further down the scroll he could see diagrams of what looked like seals. Returning to the top of the scroll he read the title. Intermediate Defensive Building Seals: Theory Volume 4 of 37. Naruto paused for a moment and walked over to another scroll setting down the one he had opened on a table. Picking the new one up he opened it and read the title. Beginner Seals: Basics: Practical Applications Volume 3 of 8. As Naruto read over some of the text he realized that not only could he understand the concepts behind the text but that there were things in this scroll that he could use. With an almost awed expression on his face Naruto realized that with this knowledge and the skills that these scrolls could teach him he could easily become strong enough to bring Sasuke back. He could still keep his word!

A little while later Naruto walked up the stairs, turned and closed the door. All he need was some food, and maybe something that he could use to sleep on, and then he would return and began learning as much of this stuff as he could. It was shocking really some of the stuff he had read, there were things in there that he had never heard of any ninja doing, and he was going to use this stuff to get as strong as possible. He regretted a little that he wasn't able to tell Tsunade that he was all right but not only did he not know the way to get back to Konoha, he also didn't think that he would ever be able to find this place again. So with a sigh he put all distractions out of his mind and readied himself for the necessary work that had to be done.

_Back in Konoha_

With a heavy heart Kakashi had returned to Konoha and was standing before the Hokage. He had just given the hardest report to a superior since he had to explain Obito's death to his sensei. Two of his students gone, one a traitor the other had disappeared off the face of the earth, so it seemed. Pakkun had been able to track them until it had started raining. He had lost the scent at the apparent battlefield but where the two had gone after that was a mystery. Although he suspected that he knew where Sasuke had gone. Tsunade had been stunned by the news and he knew that Sakura was going to take this hard as well. The others on the rescue mission had all been retrieved and had been stabilized, Sakura had already been frantic, so he had heard, wanting to know whether Naruto had succeeded in bringing Sasuke back or not.

Kakashi sighed as he was dismissed and he turned and left the Hokage's office. As he stepped outside he looked up seeing the clouds starting to break up and the sun beginning to peak through and he couldn't help but to feel some hope, just enough to make him think that things could get better. With a shake of his head he signed, the momentary spell gone. He decided that he would go see the memorial stone first before he went to tell Sakura the bad news.


	2. Shards of the Years

Chapter One: Shards of the Years

_One year later_

A blond haired teen was slowly making his way out of the ruins of what appeared to be an ancient city. He was weighed down under the massive bulk of his pack towering over him, which was full to bursting. With a quick glance at a scroll in his hands, the teen looked over the map prepared to select the first stop on his quest to fulfill his word and defend his ninja way. After a moment of staring intently at the map, he realized that it was upside down and quickly turned it over.

After a moment of quiet contemplation the blonde's face scrunched into a look of supreme concentration, as if trying to solve a problem of utmost importance. Finally with a shrug he re-rolled the scroll and carefully placed it into his jacket. Raising one hand he covered his eyes while pointing one finger at the sky. Spinning around several times he brought his finger down with a shout. Removing his other hand from his face, the blond stared into the direction that he had just selected and with another shrug he set off on his way.

_Three months later_

"Hey kid you any good with that sword you got there?" the man had the look of a grizzled veteran, with white scars running across his face and hands, testament to numerous battles.

"Well I have completed all the scrolls I have for the basic styles and I do have a decent grasp of the more advanced forms. I've even done a little work with trying to create a style all of my own so you could say that-," finally noticing the expression of extreme indifference that had crossed the veteran's face the blond sighed. "Yes, I know how to use a katana in a fight."

The veteran looked him up and down before frowning as he spoke, "Well kid you don't look like much to me, and you're way too young to be in this line of work."

Naruto sighed. Out of all the mercenaries here why did this man want to bother him? In fact he was beginning to feel that this entire excursion was going to turn out to not be worth it. If he didn't need materials to assist him in his training and materials to make seals with, he wouldn't be taking dumb jobs like this. Ah, well it would be a good chance to see if the training was really paying off. First, however, there was the issue of the irritating old man.

" How can I not look like much, you can't even see me?" Naruto intoned as he gestured to his outfit, or more aptly to is full body cloak worn shut and the cloth tied around his head that was covering the lower portion of his face.

"Heh, you can tell a lot about a person by what they wear." Here the old-timer shook his head condescendingly, "You outfit completely hides all of your features, but because you are hiding your features you attract attention to yourself cause you look different. Get it kid?"

"How are you so sure that I don't want that?" Naruto sneered already irritated with the nosy veteran. "So go lecture to some other person, one that you might actually be able to scare or one that might actually be a rookie at this?"

The elderly man walked off muttering under his breath about little brats and no respect. Naruto leaned further back against the tree he was using for support and cast his gaze around the gaggle of idiots that were milling around. Ex-bandits, aging mercenaries, and children who thought they were grown up were not the kind of comrades he wanted in a fight. He hated being saddled up with the leftovers because of his youth. He could cover his body but not disguise his voice without using a henge, and it was too cumbersome to fight with one up. So he got stuck with the leftovers.

He shook his head and smirked to himself. So what if he was working with losers? He was still being paid just too come back alive from the battlefield, so it was all good. He couldn't help but to feel a little disappointed in himself however, because he was only kept safe by the fact that he was the only ninja willing to sell himself to either of the factions in this ridiculous war. Neither side was rich enough to afford legitimate ninja so they hired rabble. Naruto wasn't interested in the petty squabbles of nobles, he just wanted some money so he could get his supplies and go.

Naruto looked up as the call for this motley crew to move out. His group was supposed to sneak around the battle and attack from the side by using a hill to hide them from the enemy view. It wasn't a bad plan, but it had bad people. Naruto started forward with the rest of the so called 'squad' with his mind on his next set of exercise he would do once he had the materials. He thought he might start with the next step of weapon seals. He had almost learned enough to release weapons from seals using chakra alone, and if he could combine that with his knowledge of placing seals on the body he coul-

His thoughts were broken when he heard commands being yelled by the single real soldier that had been sent to lead this band of misfits. Listening to him yell orders, Naruto smirked. It seemed that the enemy had had the same plan of attacking using the hill's blind spot and the two squads from the different factions had run into each other. Both sides seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if surprised to see the other, then they both converged on each other with a roar.

Naruto quickly sidestepped the first man that ran up to him and incapacitated him with a single blow to the back of the man's skull, rolling his eyes as he did so. His ninja skills made this a snap. He was looking for his next opponent when he heard screaming. Now normally this is nothing unusual in a battle, as people were being stabbed all around him, but these screams were unusual. It sounded like there were five men who began screaming as one and ended at the same time as well. Now that was unusual.

Looking for the source, Naruto discovered an enemy mercenary who was standing in front of several corpses that had been cut in half, all of which were lying in a row. Naruto expected that the unreasonably large sword the man/person/thing was carrying was responsible. The sword was taller and wider than a man and looked easily up to the task of cleaving multiple people in half in a single blow. Turning his full attention to the being wielding it, Naruto though it suited them. Tall, wide, and bulky they were wrapped in what at first glance appeared to be bandages but closer inspection revealed them to be shiny with dents, and scratches, like that which might be left on metal after being struck with a sword.

Naruto guessed that they might be some kind of thin flexible metal strips that the person had wrapped themselves with, serving as a kind of bendy armor. Naruto with a swift motion unsheathed his katana, eager for a good fight, and this unusual character looked like they were capable of giving him one.

He had to admit that he had been growing bored with simple fights. He wanted to use some of the real knowledge that he had learned. Not just seals, sword fighting, anatomy, and unarmed combat also made up a portion of the knowledge found in the many scrolls he had discovered. In fact the scrolls contained everything about combat he could ever want, except for jutsus. This in fact puzzled him. He supposed that the city could have been conquered and the jutsu scrolls taken, but why leave the others? Maybe that library had only been for scrolls other than jutsus and it hadn't been discovered? Or-

Naruto leaned backwards to avoid the massive blade that would have decapitated him. That's right he was still in a battle. As he bent back far enough so his hands touched the ground, Naruto pushed off the ground using them to spring feet first at his enemy. With a midair twist of his body, Naruto pulled his leg into the perfect position to get off a roundhouse kick that easily connected with his slower opponent's face. Naruto had to will himself not to cry out as his entire leg was now throbbing in agony. With a quick push off of his good leg, Naruto put some distance between himself and his well-armored enemy.

Naruto knew the bindings were thin because he could see the ends of the strips dangling off the limbs of his monstrous opponent, but then his kick should have had some effect and it wouldn't have hurt as much as it did. Naruto frowned behind his mask as he took a moment to ponder this. As he did so, his opponent pulled their sword back, ready to strike the instant Naruto entered their reach. Suddenly Naruto got it, understanding his opponents brilliant defense. It was layers of strips on top of each other. The thinness of the layers kept them flexible, but the number of them made them near impossible to penetrate. Looking closer, Naruto noticed that they had protected their eyes with some kind on lenses, looking like they had been made from some kind of gemstone. Naruto smirked, this was going to be fun.

Naruto rushed his opponent quickly, trying to catch them off guard. The wielder of the massive blade swung it in an attempt to cleave Naruto in two before he could get close enough to strike. With a quick push off his feet Naruto flipped over his opponent, landing behind them. As he expected his enemy turned using the momentum of the swing to accelerate the turn, however the blow came much faster than he had planned on. Naruto almost casually took a step forward as he crouched, getting to close for the enemy to hit him with their wild swing. With a swift push off the ground, Naruto swung the blade into his opponents armored neck. He reasoned that due to the necessity of being able to turn ones head in battle, the armor around the neck would be thinner to allow greater head motion.

The giant's head snapped back as the blade made contact with the underside of his chin and Naruto drove his palm onto his side of the blade, giving it even more force. Using his feet to flip off of his opponents chest Naruto landed several meters away from them. Waiting for his opponent to collapse clutching their throat, Naruto was disappointed to discover that they hadn't even appeared fazed. Naruto came to the conclusion that his opponent must be using chakra to reinforce the armor, this made sense because with the chakra pushing outwards in the armor it would also take some of the weight off the person. This would also explain the unusual amount of agility and speed that was being demonstrated for a person with that much armor on.

Coming in slower now Naruto waited for his adversary to make the first move, and was not disappointed with the diagonal swing that he narrowly avoided by ducking as he sidestepped. As the blade passed over his head Naruto reached up and cut his fingers lightly. Taking one more step Naruto used his blood to swiftly mark a seal on his enemy's armor. It was simple in design but very powerful, in an extremely small number of circumstances, and this was a perfect example of that. Rolling backwards to avoid the backhand the giant sent towards him, Naruto laughed.

"That seal I've placed on your armor causes anything metallic to begin to absorb chakra! Now the chakra you've been using to increase your mobility will be drained away!" Naruto prepared for his opponent to cry out in rage or flee in terror. There was a pause and then his opponent spoke, proving himself to be male by his voice.

"You can us chakra to do that?" His opponent sounded curious.

Naruto gaped at him in shock, "You weren't using chakra to let you move that fast in all that armor?"

His opponent shrugged. "Never was taught how to use chakra, so I guess not."

Naruto looked stunned for a moment before he bowed deeply to his enemy. When he stopped bowing, he looked at the giant figure before him and smiled, "I apologize, it seems that I have underestimated you. I guess my only choice is to wear you out."

His enemy chuckled "I doubt it, I'm something of a stamina freak."

Naruto smirked "Perfect."

Without another word the two of them clashed once more. Naruto evaded every blow but his opponent showed no signs of being injured by any of Naruto's successful strikes. So focused each was on their opponent that they were unaware of all else. Naruto thought he noticed it getting dark and then later on light once more. At last Naruto disengaged his opponent and backed off several meters. Breathing heavily Naruto knew that he was nearing his limits, and from the way his opponent was moving of it so were they. Naruto knew he had to end it soon or he wouldn't have anything left.

Naruto nicked his hand on the end of his sword and quickly drew a small seal on the hilt of his blade. He knew that he didn't have the technique down good enough yet, but he had no other options. He was too tired to use Kage Bushin and the Rasengan and he doubted that his foe would allow him the time necessary to form the Rasengan. Naruto knew no other techniques that could get through his enemy's defense, so it was down to this. Naruto focused almost all of his remaining chakra into the blade, the seal focusing its power into increasing the blade's sharpness, using the rest of his chakra to increase his speed and power of the blow, Naruto leapt forward. Even as he did, he saw that his opponent hadn't been idly standing around. Twirling the sword above his head they too were charging. Naruto knew that the rotations of the sword were adding to the power of the blow.

Both Naruto and the man roared as they swung their blades with all their might.

_Five months later_

"I would like to see your exploding tags please." The man said in a calm quiet tone, that contrasted sharply with the noise and bustle of the enormous outdoor market. Naruto looked quizzically at the stranger. It was uncommon for a person to know exactly what they were looking for. The way the outdoor market was set up, it was almost impossible to find a person selling any particular good. The large trading village was just a fifty or so kilometers away from Suna and traders came from all nations to set up shop. Most people just browsed multiple stands until they found something they liked. What compounded Naruto's confusion was that he had no exploding tags set out at the moment, so how did this man know that he had some?

Pulling out a set of exploding tags from behind the wooden counter of the stand he was using, Naruto looked the man over, trying to get an impression of who he was. The man was tall with a stiff posture that indicated high birth, and his black hair was kept almost immaculately neat in its braid. His clothes were of high quality although simple in appearance, and his voice had been commanding but soft. As if he was used to people straining to hear his every word, leaving him to never have to raise his voice to be heard. It all told Naruto one thing, he had been or was being watched.

Either a bodyguard or the man himself must have noticed him showing some exploding tags to a customer that had asked if he had any. That being almost an hour ago; Naruto was sure someone had been watching him since then. He assumed a bodyguard, due to the fact that the man before him reeked of noble birth, and he, Naruto, had been deemed harmless by his watcher. Otherwise this apparent noble would never have approached him without more obvious protection.

With a smile on his face, Naruto placed a small stack of some of his self-made exploding tags onto the counter, and nodded to the man to let him know that he was allowed to inspect them. Out of the corner of his eye Naruto was also paying attention to a young boy that seemed more fascinated with watching him than in the wares Naruto was selling. The man picked the tags up and seemed to inspect the seal on it with care, intriguing Naruto. To be able to tell about the tag by looking at the seal was difficult. Either you had to be knowledgeable in seals, or in explosives. So this man wasn't just a noble shopping for 'ninja souvenirs', and why would a noble like him need explosives?

The man finished his inspection and looked up at Naruto with a small frown on his face. "These look well made, but might you have anything a little bit stronger?"

Naruto cocked his head a moment before nodding and pulling a smaller stack of exploding tags out with his right hand. As he placed them in front of the man, he held out his left hand. With nothing more than a flicker of light a katana appeared in it with the tip lightly resting on the outstretched hand of the young kid that had been hanging around his stall, who was now staring at him wide eyed.

Naruto kept his voice neutral and did not even look at him as he spoke, "I don't know your story, but stealing from me would be most unwise." Even before he had finished, the boy had opened his hand and let a small necklace with a seal inscribed on it fall back to the table. With the same swiftness it had appeared the sword appeared to vanish. The boy turned and ran off without a word.

Having finished his inspection of the new exploding tags during Naruto's altercation with the thief, the apparent noble set them back on the counter. "These look to be strong enough but the length of time until they detonate seems rather short, could you change it or do you have any that last longer?" Naruto was interested in the fact that not only was the man unfazed but no bodyguards had appeared to stop his potentially threatening move. This either implied good guards who could tell he meant no harm, or the man had none.

Naruto nodded "I can adjust those in a few minutes if you wouldn't mind waiting." The man nodded and turned to better face away from the sun as Naruto pulled out some ink and a brush. The individual adjustments to each seal only took a few seconds, in but three minutes Naruto had adjusted the entire stack. As he handed them to the man for a better inspection, he gave him a warning.

"I just think it's fair to tell you that even though I have increased the time there is still a chance of premature detonation due to the power each one has."

The man nodded, "I understand. I will purchase them all. Here is enough money for both the purchase and the alterations that were made, I hope that this satisfies you." As he finished he pulled out a small cloth bag that looked full to bursting. He handed it to Naruto, who opened it. Naruto looked inside to see that it was full of gold coins. The man had paid him very generously and that confirmed to him that the man had come from a high ranking family. The man bowed to him.

"These are of fine quality, my name is Kyuushuu Kougi. If you ever hear of me being in the area; please do come and see me. I will be happy to purchase more of your marvelous exploding tags." With that, the man turned and left.

_Four Months Later_

Her breath was coming in ragged gasps as she tried to crawl backwards but met up with resistance from the wall behind her. The sky had darkened and the sun was barely peaking over the horizon, leaving the area between the buildings in dark shadows. The three Ninja had surrounded her, two on one side to prevent her escape and one more who was closing in on her. She wanted to fight back but the terror was making her freeze up. Her strength leaving her. She was unworthy of the name Nenshou. Not that fighting would have helped, any one of these men was beyond her.

The one approaching her was grinning as he began to undo his pants, watching the nine year old girl try to escape. Her terror increased as she realized that he intended to humiliate her before killing her. All because of the accursed name that she had to share with her deceased clan. She bean to cry even as his grin increased as he observed her mounting fear. In only a few seconds however, everything changed.

It first started with the sword that suddenly seemed to thrust it's way out of her future rapist's chest. She watched as his expression grew slack and it took her a moment to realize that he was dead. The person on the other end of the blade stepped forward and used his foot to dislodge his sword from the corpse. The closer of the two remaining ninja pulled a sword out and lunged at the girls savior causing the man to block. The man drew back his other hand and then thrust it forward a second sword appearing in it as he did. The ninja was caught by surprise and only had time to open his mouth before the blade pierced his neck completely severing the spine.

With a twisting of the wrist the dead-mans head was almost completely severed from the body. Even as the body was falling to the ground the man flicked both his wrists sending the blood that had collected on his blades onto the walls of the buildings making up the alleyway, effectively cleaning them. As the second body finally finished it's descent to the ground the final ninja unleashed four kunai with an expert snap of his wrist. The girls savior merely placed his left foot back behind his right, turning sideways out of the way of the attack. Holding one of the blades straight at the ninja, the man made no other movements, but a second later the last ninja was toppling backwards with over two dozen kunai in him. Hitting the ground, the dying man gave a few shuddering twitches before going still.

The man turned to face the girl, his swords vanishing as abruptly as they had appeared. Crouching down he made no move to touch the still shaking girl. "Are you hurt?" he asked her quietly. She shook her head.

"Do you need help?" he asked, once more in a gentle voice. This time she responded.

"There will be others who will try to kill me."

"What do you intend to do about it?" He intoned quietly as he looked her in the eye.

"I'm gonna find someone to help me become strong enough to never have that happen to me again." The girl said with a firmness coming into her voice.

"Do you have any ideas of who?" the man questioned.

"I was hoping that it would be you." She asked looking a little embarrassed.

"Is it because I am strong?"

"No, it's because you saved me instead of leaving me to… that." she looked away as she finished.

"That's a good reason. Alright, but don't make any trouble. I have a task to complete and you won't be allowed to interfere with that. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's go, I want to get to the next town by morning and we will have to move at a brisk pace to make it. I want to take a shower at a hotel there, I feel dirtied by having been in their presence." He spoke as he began walking.

"What's your name?" the girl asked as she began to walk beside the man. Wiping the remains of tears from her eyes.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Mine's Nenshou Doki."

"Your parents really named you that?" Naruto asked raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah what's wrong with it?" Doki asked, peeved.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

**Author Notes: Well first of all I would like to thank you for reading the chapter and then taking the time to read these notes. I especially would like to ask that if you read the chapter could you please review. Even if you didn't like the story it helps me to understand what I'm doing right if you tell me what you think about the story. This chapter and the next were originally one, but was cut in half do to length issues ( I didn't want to have the second chapter be 4 times longer than the first). Any japanese in the story may be incorrect, I apoligize if so. If any of you know of a good english to japanese program of some sort, please let me know. I would also like to encourage you to tell me idea's you have for the story. Even if I don't use your idea's it might give me a good idea, or even inspire me to write another story. Thank you for reading this and I would also like to say thanks to my beta reader, whom is the lord of all grammar and spelling. Without them I would be nothing.**


	3. Meeting Again

**Authors Notes: I decided to put my notes at the beginning this time, so that I can answer a few questions that people have asked me in their reviews. I would like to begin by thanking everyone that reviewed as it does mean a lot to me that you would all take the time to write a review. To answer the question of what Naruto has been declared by Konoha. Konoha has declared him MIA due to the fact that he vanished during a mission that it is known that combat was involved in. More of Doki's past is revealed in upcoming chapters. On the question of why Naruto didn't use a summon to give him directions is that the summon wouldn't know either, having just appeared there. The other questions can be solved by simply saying that Naruto either has not thought that out, or he doesn't care. Naruto does not have a plan for returning to Konoha, and he believes that getting Sasuke back is more important than having his friends think he is dead. He hasn't contacted Konoha for this reason, he doesn't want the council, or his friends to interfere in his search. Note, for instance that he tells Doki that she can only come along if she doesn't interfere with his quest. The answer to the question on whether I intend to make this a crossover is no I don't intend to make it a crossover. Lastly as I have said before, I don't have a good translator so my original jutsu's might not make sense. Please tell me if they don't.**

Chapter Two: Meeting Again

_Six months later_

"So Boss, why are we protecting this old stuck up noble again?" Doki whispered to Naruto as they walked down the narrow tree lined path. "He's irritating me with all his boring stories."

" It's because he's traveling in the same direction we are and this way we get free food and get paid at the next village. We're only a few miles away, so just keep quiet until then and we'll get paid big. Got it?" Naruto retorted. Doki snorted as she brushed a strand of white hair out of her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," Doki said as she placed her hands on her back and stretched. "They might as well pay us now, 'cause nobody is going to attack us this close to town."

"Looks like you may have spoken too soon." Naruto said seriously, turning to face the woods. With a flicker his sword appeared in his hand. Turning, he gestured to the noble and his small entourage. "Go! Follow Doki, she'll get you there safely, I'll meet you there."

"But Bos-" Naruto cut her off, swiftly shaking his head. "No, I've fought him before, he's beyond you. However I can stave him off, so go!"

With a nod to Naruto and a 'follow me' gesture to the rest of the group, Doki hurried down the trail as Naruto turned once more to face the woods that lined the trail. A moment later an enormous figured cleared the tree line.

"You're larger than I remember. Oh, and you got a new sword as well. I don't think that we were ever properly introduced. Uzumaki Naruto."

"Gusoku Kokorozashi, and yes after our last match I thought it prudent to get myself a sword of superior capabilities. The increase in my size is from the additional layers that I have added to my armor. You know, I was thinking that this was going to be a boring assignment, but then I come across you and now I have a chance to finish what we started all that time ago. How lucky I am." Kokorozashi finished as he pulled his new blade from its resting place on his back.

Naruto eyed the enormous weapon, taking in it's unusual design. Kokorozashi's first blade had been large, but this one was at least half a meter longer. Unlike his old one, this blade was more like a giant triangle with a hilt. Along it were ridges that Naruto assumed were to be used to trap the enemies' weapons. The hilt was attached to what looked like the same kind of strips of metal that made up the giant's armor. These were attached in turn to the armor on his hand.

Naruto focused chakra into the seal that was carved into the bottom of his sword and smirked as he felt the long perfected technique begin to work, as the sword became sharper. With near blinding swiftness Naruto charged his opponent hoping to defeat him in a single move. With a tremendous swing, Naruto slashed his sword upward planning on cleaving straight through the armor. To Naruto's shock Kokorozashi managed to place his sword in the path of Naruto's swing, the ridged side of the blade easily catching the incoming attack. With a laugh Kokorozashi pushed his gigantic sword forward, knocking Naruto several meters and onto his back. Leaping to his feet, Naruto saw the gigantic blade hurtling towards him. Flipping backwards, Naruto dodged the blade, which sunk into the ground in front of him. Charging forward, Kokorozashi pulled on the strips of metal connected to the hilt of his sword pulling it out of the ground and sending it racing back at him. Easily catching it in his hand he allowed the force of it to pull his arm back; the perfect position to swing.

Naruto leapt over the attack and began to come down behind Kokorozashi, preparing to strike the exposed back. With a tremendous grunt, the behemoth managed to reverse the swing sending the sword swing behind him even as he allowed himself to fall forward, reducing the power of Naruto's blow. Twisting his body to avoid the blade, Naruto used his strike to push him away from his opponent, landing a short distance away.

Kokorozashi used the momentum of his swing along with a push of his hand off of the ground, managed to flip back upright while simultaneously launching a spin kick. Naruto ducked this while swinging his sword only to have this blocked by Kokorozashi's blade.

Leaping back to create some distance between them, Naruto tried to analyze the situation. Doki and the others had to have almost reached the village where they would be safe. All he had to do was keep Kokorozashi busy for another minute and then he could use his superior speed to outrun the larger man.

With a grin Naruto assumed a new stance. He turned his body at the waist so that his head was almost behind him and with a flicker, his other sword appeared in his hand. Naruto rushed his foe. One step outside of his opponents range, Naruto spun as he leapt into the air twisting his body, turning himself into a whirlwind of blades. When Kokorozashi blocked with his sword, Naruto's momentum pushed him over the blade and allowed him to land a clean blow on his opponents head, doing little damage to the armor.

Retreating once more, Naruto was about to run when Kokorozashi spoke. "I suppose the people traveling with you have reached the town by now. I've got to go explain this failure to my benefactor. However, this is the second time that you have interfered in my business and I won't wait for the third. I'll let you go for now, but I will find you and then I will beat you. You won't interfere with me anymore." He pointed his sword at Naruto. "So watch out, I won't lose." With that Kokorozashi turned and walked back into the woods.

Naruto waited for a minute before letting his swords disappear. He turned and walked towards the town at a slow leisurely pace with a small smile on his face. After all, he wasn't worried.

_Two months later_

Naruto bounded from tree branch to tree branch, following the directions he had been given in town. He had left Doki there to get them a place to stay for the night and he was looking forward to making a lot of money. He had been overjoyed to hear that one Kyuushuu Kougi had been seen in the area. Naruto had not forgotten the man's request that Naruto sell him some more exploding tags. He figured that he could get there, make the sale, and be back before sunset.

Pausing for a moment to get his bearings, Naruto heard shouts coming from the direction that he was traveling in. Hurrying forward Naruto could soon make out what they were saying.

"Kyuushuu Kougi, we will not repeat ourselves again. You are wanted in Iwa for acts of terrorism." The man's voice was menacing, and their was a note of superiority in his voice.

"I have already told you that I am not a terrorist." This voice Naruto recognized. He sounded as unflappable as Naruto remembered him. "I do not attack innocent people, I have only killed specific targets. I am an assassin, not a terrorist."

"Well it doesn't matter to me what you call yourself, if you blow up buildings with high ranking political leaders in them we're going to get you." The menacing voiced man said.

"Those leaders were corrupt puppets that were put into their positions by selling out the people of the village they were meant to protect. Many have lost family and loved ones to the corrupt rule of the shadow government that really runs the nation. I lost my dear Ippin because of them." Kougi said sadly.

"Why should I care? All of us who follow the rule of the Tsuchikage get to live the good life, so why should we care what happens to you insects?" The menacing man spat.

Naruto burst out of the tree line in time to see the man who had spoken before give an order. "All right boys! Get the piece of shit."

Naruto saw that Kougi was surrounded with his back up against a cliff. Six ninja surrounded him and there were two dead ninja a little ways off. Even as five of the ninja rushed forward; Naruto, who was behind them flipped through a series of hand seals and as soon as he had finished the last one he threw a kunai at the center of their group.

Hearing his shout of "Kage Kunai no Jutsu." The men turned just in time to see the single kunai turn into hundreds that cut through the air straight for the men. Three of the men managed to get out of the way by evasion or Kawarimi, two however were not so lucky and were impaled by dozens of kunai apiece. Even as the enemy ninja began to turn to meet this new threat Kougi tossed four kunai at the ground around the men. The ninja saw the exploding tags attached to the kunai and leapt out of the way. A moment later the kunai exploded sending dirt flying into the air.

The ninja, having lost site of Kougi in the explosion, swiftly began scanning the area to try and find him. Their leader was at this time engaging Naruto in a sword fight that was decidedly one sided, as Naruto pushed him back with ease. The enemy nin's temporary peace was interrupted with a shout. Looking up, they saw Kougi in the middle of the dirt that had been kicked up by the explosion.

"Doton: Tsuchi Tanren no Jutsu!"(Earth Release: Soil Hardening Technique) The soil that had been blown up into the air formed into several large hard stones. Without a pause, Kougi went straight into another technique. "Doton: Iwa Gosunkugi no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Stone Long Nail Technique) The stones in the air combined to form a single spike that shot towards the ninja beneath it. Naruto observed out of the corner of his eye that Kougi had also thrown something immediately after he had finished the jutsu.

One of the Iwa nins immediately used a jutsu of his own. "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!"(Earth Release: Upside-down Mud Wall) As he reached into the ground and pulled a wall up to protect them. As the spike struck the shield, both crumbled away. A moment later the exploding tag that Kougi had thrown earlier exploded, annihilating the Iwa ninja. As Kougi landed he saw Naruto disembowel the leader.

"I thank you, without your help I surely would be dead right now." Kougi bowed deeply before he continued. "I owe you a debt. Until I can pay this debt back I will serve you with my life."

"There's no need for that!" Naruto cried waving his arms back and forth as he backed away from the man. "I was glad to help, you don't owe me anything."

Kougi shook his head slowly. "My honor will not allow me to do otherwise. Do not worry I want to do this. Please do not question my decision."

"If you're sure that this is what you want, then I won't stop you. I just have a few questions."

"Yes, what are they?"

"Why were those ninja after you.?"

Kougi sighed "Let's just say that some bad people have taken control of the village that I used to serve and I decided I would rather fight than become their lapdog."

"I see," Naruto replied, knowing that there was far more to the story that just that. "Well then I have just one more question."

Kougi looked up curious, "What might that be?"

"Do you remember which way it is back to town? I got mixed up during the fight."

_One month later_

"Uzumaki Naruto! I am here for our match."

Naruto looked at the imposing figure of Gusoku Kokorozashi, who was standing in the middle of the road that he and his group were traveling on. With a nod to his companions, Naruto stepped forward, swords appearing in his hands. Kougi and Doki both backed up to a relatively safe distance in preparation for the upcoming battle.

"Interesting," Kokorozashi said as he got into his fighting stance. "You don't seem worried at all. The last two times we fought neither one of us had the upper hand. What makes you so confident?"

"That's 'cause our boss isn't afraid of a big idiot like you! You haven't beat him yet and you're not going to."

Kokorozashi looked at the young girl, "I remember you, you're the little punk who ended up running away to safety when I showed up last time. You weren't even there, so how do you know how the fight went?"

"The only reason that I left was because he told me to and I was sure that he could beat you. That's cause nobody can beat our boss!"

"The reason I am so confident is simple," Naruto said softly, immediately attracting everyone's attention. "I made a promise, and until I succeed in keeping my word I will not be stopped. I won't lose here because if I do then I will have failed in my promise and I refuse to allow that to happen. That is my Nindo, my ninja way."

Kokorozashi nodded. "I see. That is interesting. Twice now we have fought and each time I have not been able to overcome you. In the first fight you had to use a desperate move just to tie. If you had been unsuccessful then I would have won. In the second, we were evenly matched, even though I had increased my training significantly. If you beat me here then you will have improved faster than me once more. Now let me give you my word. I will beat you here, but if I should fail then I will hunt you, no matter where you go. I will learn the secret to your strength and I will use it to defeat you. I will surpass you, my diminutive rival, and I will become the strongest man alive. That is the vow I make, do you understand?"

Naruto looked straight at him and spoke in a perfectly serious tone. "I will unveil here my masterpiece. Your armor will shatter before me like glass. I will break you even easier."

"If you do defeat my armor, then you will be in for a fight more terrible than any you have ever experienced before."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, his glare had enough force behind it to kill a lesser man, and at last he spoke. "More terrible than any that I have experienced before? I don't think so. I once fought a man who was like a brother to me, I even told him so during the fight. He told me that I was his closest friend. Then he stabbed through my chest with one of his techniques and told me that it was going to be him that ended my life. You could not even begin to match that pain. So shut up and let's fight!"

With those words, Naruto leapt forward even as his opponent responded with a charge of his own.

With a crash that echoed throughout the region, the blades of the two warriors met with a sound like thunder.

_Several weeks later_

"I say that this plan is way overly complicated. All you have to do is go fight him, if you win you drag him back by his hair. If he beats you then I step in, beat him, and drag him back by the hair."

Naruto sighed and looked over at Kokorozashi "If he's stronger than me then how will you beat him?"

"Simple, he'll be all tired out by the fight with you, and I'll crush him."

"That will happen only if the trap fails and Naruto loses his fight with this Sasuke."

Kokorozashi shook his head, "Why do we need to use a trap, it's so…so…lame."

"We are placing a trap because there it is preferable to bring him back in once piece, as opposed to having all of his bones shattered." Kougi replied, then turned to look to his left. "It seems that Doki is returning, she must have located him."

" You were right! He was left at the same time he always does, and he's following the same path he did last time. He's heading right for the trap." Doki skidded to a stop right in front of Naruto, panting from exertion.

"Good. Everyone get to your places, hopefully I won't need your help." With that Naruto headed off deeper into the sparse woods that surrounded Orochimaru's newest lair.

_A few minutes later in the woods around Orochimaru's lair._

Sasuke was walking though what in this region counted as woods, trying and mostly failing to relax. He did not want to be taking a walk but Kabuto was adamant that Sasuke do something from Kabuto's list. Kabuto had first made this list, filled with effective means of relaxing, in response to Sasuke's most recent medical tests. They showed that he was suffering from severely unhealthy levels of stress. So much so in fact that it was beginning to effect him physically. Orochimaru was not pleased to learn that his next body was destroying itself and had ordered Kabuto to find ways to prevent this damage from increasing and to reverse it, and so here he was.

Taking walks was by far the least irritating of his 'stress relievers' and one of the few that he thought actually worked. It was nice to get away from both Kabuto and Orochimaru, those two had been getting on his nerves since just a few weeks after he had arrived, let alone after nearly three years. Walking slowly along the same route that he had used since he had came to this specific base, Sasuke tried to relax his body. As he got to the center of one of the few clearings that peppered his route, Sasuke froze with his hand going to the hilt of the sword on his waist.

"I know that you're there so come out." Sasuke's voice did not reveal any sign of nervousness or fear. A moment after he spoke, a figure strode out the trees ahead stopping at the edge of the clearing. There was a long pause as the two sized each other up.

Sasuke noted that the ninja's (for only a ninja could have gotten as close to him as this man did before he detected him.) outfit seemed designed to cover as much of the body as possible without hindering movement. The next thing he noticed was that the man had no visible weapons on him and nothing to carry weapons with. Finally Sasuke noted that nothing in the man's posture indicated fear or uncertainty.

"Uchiha Sasuke, I request that you lay down your weapon and come quietly. If you do, then I will guarantee that you will not be harmed in any way. If you resist then you will experience significant pain." The man's voice was calm. Sasuke thought it reminded him of someone but was unable to place who. After a short pause, Sasuke smirked.

"How do you plan to make me suffer this pain, you don't even have a weapon?"

"I don't need one," The man replied "When my opponent is stupid enough to walk into a trap." With that, the man knelt, placing one of his hands on the ground, even as Sasuke began to draw his sword. As soon as the hand touched the ground, a series of seals appeared that encompassed the entire clearing. As Sasuke took the first step in his charge, a sudden sharp pain shot through his neck. He staggered as the pain grew in intensity and a moment later he noticed something else. He could feel his chakra being drained. The feeling was identical to that which he had felt during the Chuunin exam. He knew that these seals surrounding him were to blame. Charging once more, he was stopped after three steps when electricity began flowing from the edges of the seals through the center (and him) and into the opposite edge of the seals. The energy came from all directions at once and he was unable to use chakra to evade it do to his chakra being leached into the seals.

"How do you like my seals, Sasuke? Three different seals were combined to form this one, all of my own design. The innermost is suppressing all seals within it, including the cursed seal. The next one is draining your chakra, making it nearly impossible to use a jutsu because the chakra you try to use in the jutsu is being pulled away. The final one sets up an area of electrical energy, specially designed to mess up neurological impulse. In other words it stops you from moving, forcing you to stay there and have your chakra drained away." As he was speaking, the man watched as Sasuke struggled to his feet, fighting the effects of the electricity.

With a roar of rage, Sasuke grabbed his wrist and focused everything he had into it. A chirping noise began even as the Chidori was forming. As soon as the jutsu was finished Sasuke charged at his opponent, feeling himself weakening with every step, the Chidori beginning to dissipate as its chakra was pulled into the seals surrounding him. Pushing himself as hard as he could Sasuke could see his target getting closer, he was only ten meters away… now five… now two…now only on-. Sasuke collapsed even as his Chidori faded leaving him less than a meter from the man who had entrapped him.

Naruto lifted his hand from the ground and watched the seals fade. A long moments silence permeated the area before a small figure ran out of the sparse woods behind whooping for joy.

"Yeah boss you did it!" Doki plowed into Naruto nearly knocking him over in her crazed dance of joy.

"So I was wondering," Kokorozashi said as he and Kougi too walked out of the woods. "Are you going to use him as the way to get your village to forgive you or what?"

Naruto shrugged "I really don't know."

"Come on, how do you plan on going back then?" Kokorozashi roared in surprise.

"I don't. Well at least not just yet." Silence greeted Naruto answer. After a moment Naruto spoke again.

"I made a promise to return Sasuke, but that isn't Sasuke. That's Sasuke with a freaked up cursed seal. In my mind to keep my word I must seek out a cure for this cursed seal. I think that Konoha would be a good place to stick him until I can find one so that's why were dropping him off at the front gate."

"You want use to leave a traitor at the front gate of a hidden village and then run away. Hoping that they do no pursue us?" Kougi questioned.

"Basically… yeah."

**AN: The time skip between this chapter and the next should be the last skip I make in this story. Don't worry I don't plan on having the story end soon if that's what you think, it's just that all the preparation is complete now the real story begins. If it seems that Naruto brought down Sasuke too easily, I apologize. I would just like to point out that the seals Naruto used require time to set up as well as for Naruto to continue to pump chakra into it for as long as it is active, as well as force him to remain stationary. So it's not all powerful. Sasuke was also taken by surprise and underestimated his opponent. I would like to thank all who reviewed, especially those who asked good questions or pointed out errors in spelling (Kage Bunshin), I appreciate you helping make this story better. Lastly I would also like to thank my beta-reader and beg you to allow me to send you chapters while you are one vacation, (Who doesn't like good fan fiction while relaxing on a beach?) I beg you to think of the poor readers. Plllllleeeeeeeaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeee???**


	4. Promise Kept

-1**AN: First I would like to apologize for taking so long to get this chapter up. Several problems, none of which I'll bore you with, caused sever delays in the writing of this chapter. Next I would like to apologize for the mistake I made in the last chapter. It is Kage Kunai Bunshin and not Kage Kunai. To answer a question a reviewer asked, Sasuke is the kind of character who (in my mind) would push himself to the point of collapse if it meant getting strong enough to kill Itachi. If anyone would develop problems due to stress I see it being Sasuke. As I said in the previous AN, This is the last jump in time that will occur in this story (by that I mean no more jumping years or months). I am looking forward to the next chapter and it should not take as long as this chapter did. I would like to thank all that reviewed and especially thank my beta-reader who was willing to correct this chapter while on vacation.**

Chapter Three: Promise Kept

_Two years later_

The young man screamed as the seal on his arm flared brighter than the eye could stand, twisting as if to escape an invisible tormentor. After only a few moments the seal vanished in it's entirety leaving unblemished skin behind. A few moments later he caught his breath and ran his other hand over the place that the seal had covered only a moment ago. With an incredulous expression on his face, the man looked up.

"It's…It's gone. I don't believe it! It worked." Jumping to his feet, the man proceeded to perform a small dance of sorts before remembering that he was not alone in the room. Blushing furiously, he turned to face the other people before bowing so deeply that his head almost seemed to touch the floor.

"I thank you. Without your help, I would surely have died. You truly are as great as you are rumored to be. I'll give you anything you want, just name it."

Naruto bowed back. "I was glad to help, there is no need to show such respect to me. I don't need a large extravagant reward. I would like to ask you for a favor however."

"Whatever you desire. Without you help the seal would have… it would have-"

"Melted the flesh off of your bones and absorbed it, allowing it to spread further."

The man shivered even as he went pale, the mere thought enough to terrify him. Shaking his head as if to knock the morbid thoughts out, he faced Naruto once more.

"That Flesh-Eater Seal was terrible. I was told that there was no way to remove it. They told me I was going to die in a few weeks, but you! You saved me! I would be honored to grant you any request that is within my power." Grinning slyly at Naruto, the man winked. "Saving the life of the son of one of the most influential nobles in the nation can be helpful, don't you agree?"

"Your generosity is truly appreciated. The only thing that I desire at this time however is for you to, if it's not to much trouble, make arrangements for me to examine the seal that a shinobi of Konoha has. I believe that I might be able to treat it successfully. Like yours, they say that there is no way to remove it. I would like to try my hand at curing him. Please take no offense but ninja would more likely be able to find a reward that would be of use to me."

"No offense taken, I understand. I don't see why I would be unable to set that up. I know that my father will be overjoyed to hear that his sole heir is not going to die. Consider it done. In fact, since we're only a short distance from Konoha, if I can get my father to write the message immediately, you could be in Konoha before lunch."

"I would be most grateful." Naruto bowed deeply again. "You should, however, avoid going into strange crypts. Some deadly seals don't take weeks before killing you. Try to take care of yourself."

"Trust me," The young noble said. "I've learned my lesson. Now I'll get you that message right now." Almost skipping with giddiness, the man left the room heading further into the large mansion.

Knowing that he had a few minutes, Naruto made his way outside, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the sudden increase in light. Sighing as he breathed in the fresh air, Naruto tried to calm his nerves as he at last was prepared to return to his home. Being able to see his friends and colleagues again was exciting, but at the same time terrifying.

"So did it work?" Naruto opened his eyes to see the imposing figure of Kokorozashi looking down at him. He had been waiting outside as seal-work did not interest him.

"As good as expected. He's agreed to our request and we should be in Konoha within a few hours."

"Are you nervous?" This time Naruto could hear the teasing tone in his voice.

"I'm fine. Where's Doki?"

"The brat? She's off with Kougi training. The little punk won't stop moving for a second. Why do we have to have three stamina freaks?" Hearing this, Naruto sighed.

"She's not a stamina freak, at least not like you and I, you know that."

"Doki's close enough, just 'cause she's got a shortcut, doesn't meant that she won't last far longer that any ordinary ninja her age." Kokorozashi pointed out.

"Her control is too poor to allow her to use it for long, not that it's her fault. They weren't bred for control. It was power they wanted. That still doesn't change the fact that she can't maintain it long enough to be considered a 'stamina freak'. Anyway that she exceeds a ninja her age is merely due to her being exposed to our training regiments."

"Yeah, whatever." Kokorozashi sighed, apparently not willing to press the issue. "Looks like Noble Jr. is back."

Naruto turned in time to see the young noble come to a stop just a short distance away, bowing as he did so. Naruto bowed in return.

"Here is a letter for the Hokage. A message has also been sent to let her know that you are coming. Before you go I would just like to say that if you are ever nearby this house is also open to you."

Naruto nodded as he accepted the message. Bowing, he prepared to go get the remaining members of his group when the noble spoke again.

"Before you go, I was wondering, you never told me your name, why is that?"

"It's best for me now to be unknown. I am sure however that you will learn my name soon. I don't mean any offense."

"None taken. All right then I hope to see you soon."

"As do I. My apologizes, but I must be on my way." With that, Naruto turned and walked away, followed closely behind by Kokorozashi.

_In Konoha_

Sakura stood before the Hokage having been summoned for what she had been told was an emergency meeting. Around her were several other shinobi, all of which were well known for their battle prowess, many of which Sakura knew. The old team Eight was there as well as team Ten, Kakashi, and behind Tsunade stood Jiraiya. For a moment, Sakura wondered where Sasuke was, since he was almost always selected for important missions. Once all of the shinobi had settled down, Tsunade looked up from her paperwork.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Something that could lead to a potential security risk for this village has just occurred. Less than half an hour ago, I received an official letter from the second most influential noble in this nation. This letter states that we are going to receive a visitor soon. One that, for now, carries the protection of that noble. That is nothing new for us, but what has me worried is that these people are coming to supposedly remove the cursed seal from Uchiha Sasuke."

At this, several ninja began to speak all at once, creating a racket that made it impossible for any of them to be understood. After a moment, Tsunade signaled for them to all be quiet. Once they had calmed down, Tsunade nodded to Sakura, letting her know that she was allowed to speak.

"It's not possible to remove the cursed seal!" Sakura stated very firmly. "So they couldn't have come to remove it. They have to be lying."

"That may not be the case." Everyone was stunned as Jiraiya made this comment. They all knew that he had tried to remove the cursed seal but had failed, stating that it was tied to heavily into his body.

"It seems that this individual has removed another seal that is supposedly irremovable. The son of the noble that sent us this message had been inflicted with what is called the Flesh-Eater Seal. This seal also invades the body, tying itself into the nervous system. The main difference is that this seal consumes everything down to the bones a short period of time after the individual is infected with it. No one knew how to cure it in part because no one knows how to make one. No one has for over a century."

"How did this person manage to get infected then? Was the man who cured him responsible for it in the first place?" Neji asked.

"Not necessarily, the seal survives in the bones of an infected individual and can be transferred by touch. Anyone touching someone who is infected is at risk of infection themselves, so it can still be acquired even today, and this kid can do things that are beyond anything anyone can do today." Jiraiya finished his explanation with a worried expression.

Tsunade resumed her briefing with concern written all over her face. "It seems that this individual is legitimate. This, however, puts us at risk because we are not only allowing an individual with unknown abilities into our village, we're allowing him to treat one of our strongest shinobi. Worse than this is that we must also allow his traveling companions to accompany him. Furthermore we cannot refuse due to this noble's high standing, he is one of our greatest clients. Losing him would be disastrous."

Here Tsunade paused and surveyed the collected ninja that stood before her. "As some of our best and brightest, I am charging you with the task of watching these people at all times and to make sure that they do nothing or learn nothing that could compromise the security or well being of this village."

"Hokage, is there any information on these individuals that could prove useful to us in performing our duties?" This time Tenten being the one who spoke up.

"Information is limited but all we have is in this folder." Tsunade opened a thin file that sat on the desk between them. "You may look at it later but I can summarize what you will find. The main person of our concern is the leader of the group, real name: unknown, age: unknown, origin: unknown. Virtually nothing is known about him. His companions have been heard referring to him as 'Boss' but it seems that most people call him 'The Sealmaster'. He obviously is the one who will be performing the procedure on Sasuke. He first appeared a few years ago selling items with seals on them. He has also reported as performing a few jobs of acting as a bodyguard. Nothing is known to us about his fighting style."

Tsunade paused here for a moment as she turned to another page in the folder. "Accompanying him are three individuals, the first of which goes by the name Doki. We don't have a last name. The first could be an alias as far as we know. She showed up with him all of a sudden. We have nothing on her past. Interestingly, she is twelve years old. She also does not have much information about her fighting style.

"Next we have Gusoku Kokorozashi. He was a mercenary for a few years before joining up with this 'Sealmaster' so we do have more info on him. He apparently uses some kind of armor to protect himself while overpowering his opponents. He uses a large blade. Not much else to this guy. Lastly, we have Kyuushuu Kougi. He is a missing nin from Iwa. Reportedly, he is a terrorist who specializes in Doton jutsu's as well has having a solid grasp in many other areas of Ninjutsu. His second greatest ability however would be his skill with which he uses explosives."

Tsunade paused here to allow any questions that the gathered nin might have.

"So we are to discreetly follow these individuals, two of which we know next to nothing about and two of which are known to be dangerous." said Sakura, trying to make sure that they understood the objective. After Tsunade nodded, Sakura finished.

"Is there anything else that we should know?"

"They arrive in less than two hours."

_The gates of Konoha _

Sakura waited impatiently for Konoha's unwelcome guests to arrive. Most of the other nin were hiding in various locations nearby, or had disguised themselves in some manner. Other teams had been added at the last minute, as the council had decided that Sasuke was too valuable to risk losing. She, on the other hand, was as the Hokage's apprentice, the one who had to greet their guests. Sakura was not looking forward to catering to the whim of a bunch idiotic mercenaries who got to do whatever they wanted merely because one of them could perform a few tricks. She had many reservations on whether or not they could even remove the cursed seal. However she was willing to put up with it on the off chance that this would work.

Pacing before the gates, Sakura, to the best of her abilities, ignored the other people that had been put on this 'welcome duty' as it were. Kakashi was crouching, enjoying his book, as Jiraiya kept ogling all the women that came by. Tsunade on the other hand looked like she might fall asleep at any moment, due to her drooping eyelids and frequent yawns. It took all of Sakura's self-control to not go looking for their guests who seemed to be about an hour later than they were supposed to be.

So caught up in her pacing,(and imagining herself taking Kakashi's book and using it to beat Jiraiya into a bloody mess) that when the shinobi landed next to hear she almost punched his lights out. After recovering from her near fatal scare, Sakura nudged Tsunade, who woke up with a start.

"Huh, what is it?" Tsunade yawned. The nin who had just arrived immediately delivered his news.

"Lord Hokage, the Sealmaster and his companions are nearing the gates. They should be here in a matter of moments." Having delivered his message the shinobi left, returning to his post.

Sakura and the others watched the gates eagerly, wanting to see what this "Sealmaster' looked like. However it was not the Sealmaster who first caught their attention. Sakura at first thought it was a trick, some kind of jutsu making them look that big, but she soon realized that the man really did stand at somewhere around two and a half meters. Not only were they tall but they were broad as well, three times as wide as a normal man. Even more imposing was the monster of a sword that was attached to their back. The metallic strips that covered their entire body gave them away as being Gusoku Kokorozashi.

The next one to catch her attention was the man wearing a Iwa headband with a slash through it. Guessing him to be Kyuushuu Kougi, Sakura could see the noble upbringing in the man's posture. He had long black hair that was kept in a braid and his clothes were simple yet immaculate. She might have found him handsome had not his utter lack of expression made him seem almost inhuman.

Her eyes were next drawn to the younger girl who was skipping along beside the behemoth. Shockingly white hair along with her dull grey eyes and pale complexion gave her the countenance of a bubbly ghost. Her outfit was simple as well but all white only adding to her ethereal appearance. Her bounding strides, nonstop chattering, and her diminutive size made her seem more like a nine or ten year old, rather than the twelve she was.

Finally Sakura looked at the one who had to be the 'Sealmaster'. Average height and build, what stood out about him the most was the fact that almost all of his features were in someway obscured. His hair was covered by a cloth that was attached to a mask which covered the lower portion of his face, showing only his eyes. He wore a loose full body outfit complete with gloves, that were a color somewhere between dark gray and black. Most of this outfit was covered by a cloak of the same color that was closed in the front with a small metal clasp. Frankly Sakura thought that he looked ridiculous. He looked, in her opinion, like he was trying for 'mysterious' and had taken it a step to far.

Finishing her visual examination of the approaching group, Sakura strode forward ready to greet them. Smiling widely, she stretched out one arm in a gesture of welcome.

"No way that hair color is real, I say she dyes it." Sakura froze in mid gesture as her mind struggled to comprehend what the giant that stood before her had just said.

"Nah, nobody would want their hair to be that color, it has to be real." Openly glaring at the little brat that had just uttered those words, Sakura prepared to speak.

"Is she even a ninja? Why would a ninja have that color of hair, natural or dyed? It makes no sense. Perhaps it is a henge. This ninja transformed into a less threatening appearance so that they would not make us fell threatened." Turning her enraged gaze upon the tall ex-Iwa nin, Sakura inhaled, fully prepared to give him the verbal lashing of a lifetime, when the last person spoke up.

"Now that's not nice. If she wants her hair that color it is up to her." Sakura smiled and turned to face the man when he continued. "Now little girl, do you know where we might find the Hokage? It is important that we speak to her."

Sakura's attempt to dismember the man was interrupted by Kakashi who managed to get in-between Sakura and her target. Without batting an eyelash he bowed and gestured over at Tsunade standing a little ways off.

"The Lord Hokage is right over their. Sakura here was to be the one to greet you upon your entry into Konoha. Despite her appearance, she is quite the capable Ninja." Kakashi said, ignoring the massive amounts of killer intent being focused at him by Sakura.

Amusement evident in his voice the Sealmaster spoke in a very nonchalant manner. "I would certainly hope so, it would not be fitting for the Hokage's apprentice to be weak."

"How did you know I was her apprentice?" Sakura was worried. How could this man know that? They had never met before.

"I deemed it necessary to learn some things about Konoha before coming. Only prudent wouldn't you say?" With that the group walked past the stunned Sakura towards the Hokage.

"I am curious Kougi, how did those two convince you to go along with their making jokes about her hair? Normally they couldn't get you to crack a joke even if they threatened you."

"That's really not a henge? I assumed that it was." Kougi responded without batting an eye.

Naruto stared at him for a moment. "Was that a joke you just made?"

Kougi didn't answer.

Stopping before Tsunade, the Sealmaster bowed deeply. He then held out a scroll which Tsunade took.

"Lord Hokage, here is a message showing that we are the ones whom you were told were coming. If you might lead us to Uchiha Sasuke, we can get started immediately."

Tsunade looked at him for a moment before responding. "You sound younger than I thought you would be. More important however, I have a question that I want you to answer first. Why are you going to remove the cursed seal from Sasuke?"

"Because I plan on being compensated generously, and I am the only one at this time capable of doing it. If I am correct, the cursed seal tends to activate whenever his emotions are stirred up too much? He can't fight at his full potential if he has to try to force back a curse every time he gets frustrated. You need me to do this and I can charge just about any price and you will have to pay it." Tsunade could hear the amusement in his voice, and she knew that he was correct.

"However, how can I be sure that you're as good as you say you are?" Tsunade asked.

"Take me to the Uchiha and I will show you someone that can vouch for me."

Tsunade nodded and began walking to the hospital. Following her, the Sealmaster noted the ninja overtly following them as well as a few covertly following him. He smirked beneath his mask.

_Konoha Hospital_

Tsunade lead them through the halls of the hospital before stopping in front of a room. As she opened the door, Sakura pushed through everyone else so that she was the second to enter. As she entered Sasuke, who was sitting on one of the medical beds looked up, see that it was Tsunade and Sakura he looked away again. Jiraiya, who was standing next to the bed spoke up even as the others filed in.

"So has this Sealmaster shown up yet? I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Why yes, I have arrived. How nice to finally meet the great Jiraiya. It truly is an honor." Jiraiya watched as the man bowed deeply to him. Sasuke looked up at hearing him speak and for a moment their was silence.

"YOU!" Sasuke cried springing to his feet, his hand straying towards his sword that he wore at his waist. All of the Konoha nin's hands strayed towards weapons.

"There you go. Sasuke can vouch for my abilities, he has after all seen them before. I was the one who brought him back to your village, when I captured him I gave what I believe was a reasonable demonstration of my talents."

"You're the one that left Sasuke at the gates?" Sakura gasped. "Why did you do it?"

"Simple," came the answer "I had agreed to a contract, and a contract is the binding of a person by their honor and their word. I never go back on my word."

Sasuke looked at the Sealmaster with a curious expression, while Sakura snorted.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Sakura sighed "No, its just that for a minute you sounded a lot like someone we used to know. He was always going on about keeping his word and it being his Nindo. He was an okay person, although he was an idiot."

"How so?" Kokorozashi asked

"Well," Sakura began "He always thought that he was better than he was. He was obnoxious and he tried to do things that he had no chance of succeeding at. Like when he went after Sasuke…" Here Sakura broke off and looked at the ground a melancholy expression on her face. After a moment the Sealmaster clapped his hands loudly starting everyone.

"Well that's enough depression for now, let's get down to work." He said cheerily.

"A question first, how do you intend to remove it?"

"Well Jiraiya, I will use a seal of my own design. It will infect the seal on Sasuke much in the same way that the cursed seal on Sasuke did to him. Then the seal will force the cursed seal to attack itself."

"Wouldn't that harm him?" Jiraiya asked, concerned.

"No. You see, the seal attacks itself, but does not destroy itself. It merely weakens the seal first, then the second part of the seal kicks in and the cursed seal will be sealed away into a special scroll that I have. Because the cursed seal will have been weakened, extracted it will not cause it to damage Sasuke's body." And with that he pulled a long scroll out from his sleeve and opened it. On it were circles, and within some of the circles, patterns and symbols could be seen. Jiraiya pointed to one.

"That's the Flesh-Eater seal!"

"Yes, I extracted it just this morning. I could repair it but I would have no use for it." With that, he pulled off one of his gloves, careful to keep his hand out of sight, and put a different one on. This one was covered with a complicated seal. Raising his hand the seal began to glow. He stepped behind Sasuke to where he could see the cursed seal.

"Hyakugai Baiofi-Dobakku Fuuin!"( Great Damage Bio-Feedback Seal!) He cried out as he brought his hand into contact with the seal on Sasuke's neck. The Seal flashed as Sasuke cried out, before anyone could move a different set of seals appeared on the glove. Raising his hand once more he brought it down upon the seal with a shout.

"Fuuin Ishoku Fuuinjutsu!" (Seal Transplanting Sealing Technique!) The seal shone for a moment before, without warning, the seal seemed to vanish. As the occupants of the room watched, the cursed seal formed in one of the blank circles on the scroll. There was a moment of utter stillness before Jiraiya and Sakura converged next to Sasuke. Both of them trying to be the first to inspect his now seal free neck. After a minute of studying where the seal was Jiraiya looked up.

"It's completely gone."

At this Tsunade nodded. "I'll inform the council. They were eager to have this attempted in the first place." Tsunade looked at the one responsible. "They will find some way to pay you for this."

The Sealmaster nodded. As soon as he had done so, Tsunade turned and left the room. Turning to face his comrades, the Sealmaster nodded towards the door. Letting his friends leave first, he was prepared to follow them when a voice called out.

"Wait." Turning, he could see that it was Sasuke that had spoken. Sasuke smirked as he looked at him.

"Fight me." Sasuke commanded.


	5. Old Bonds Reemerge

-1**AN: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I never once intended to go this long without updating. Since I did however I think you will be glad to hear that it probably won't happen again. What caused this delay was disease (Not SERIOUS but bad enough to keep me from getting any work done.) followed by college finals, followed by more work hours. Now down to business. I know that this chapter is short but I plan on getting the next chapter out in record time so please don't be impatient. Also I would like to say that I was astounded by the number of reviewers who responded to the previous chapter, more than any other chapter. It seems that chapter caught the interest of you readers, or it just pissed you off. Sasuke may seem unusual in this chapter but it has a reason, all things I right have a reason. Enough rambling here is the chapter that you faithful readers deserve!**

Chapter Four: Old Bonds Reemerge

"Fight me." Sasuke commanded.

The Sealmaster paused in the doorway for a long moment and looked at Sasuke. Sasuke meet his gaze and a malicious smirk appeared on his face. After a few moments of tense silence, the Sealmaster sighed.

"I would, except I seem to be a little tired from having to remove two supposedly incurable seals and the traveling I had to do to get here. I'm afraid that I wouldn't be much of a challenge. Maybe tomorrow, that is, if I'm not too busy preparing to leave. I am, after all, not allied with any particular village so I tend to travel a lot. I'll see if I can make time for it tomorrow."

A feeling of resignation filled the bystanders, as those from Konoha were prepared for Sasuke's ire at being denied something he had demanded. Shockingly however, Sasuke merely nodded before getting to his feet. Walking to the door, he once more made eye contact with the Sealmaster, a knowing smirk on his face. As he made eye contact, he spoke. "I understand." And with that he was gone.

After his departure, there was a moment in which all of the Konoha ninja tried to wrap their minds around the fact that Sasuke had accepted, without anger or irritation, a person refusing to fight him. On top of that, Sasuke had seemed almost good natured about it. Sakura was the first to recover from her shock and looked at the Sealmaster, who was still standing in front of the door. He raised an eyebrow when he saw her staring at him and she brought herself out of her stupor quickly.

"Well, I was supposed to give you a tour of Konoha after you finished your work, so why don't we get started with that?"

The Sealmaster shook his head. "I am a bit hungry at the moment. Sealwork always seems to give me a massive appetite. Maybe the others would like to go?" He gestured to the rest of his group.

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Kokorozashi said shrugging as the other two nodded.

"Alright then," Sakura said. "Hinata. Shino. You accompany…um." Sakura looked at the Sealmaster expectantly.

"I'm not going to tell you my name."

Sakura refrained from cursing.

"You will accompany the Sealmaster to a restaurant, then either take him to me, a hotel, or to the Hokage. He is not to go anywhere else, is this clear?" Her gaze was directed at the Sealmaster as she finished.

"Hurrah! I get babysitters!" The Sealmaster did a little jig in the hospital room. "Can they also tuck me in to bed and read me a story?"

"You're guests here and as guests you will follow the rules that we set." Sakura retorted.

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it. Well let's go." With that, the Sealmaster turned and walked out of the room, trailed by the two ninja assigned to him.

Sakura turned to the rest of the guests. "Well I guess we should get started on the tour then."

_Konoha's Council chambers_

Tsunade had just finished informing the Council of the successful removal of Sasuke's cursed seal when she heard the door open behind her. Turning, she saw that it was Sasuke, who had a serious expression on his face. Ignoring Tsunade completely, Sasuke made his way into the center of the room as the Council watching him curiously. As Tsunade was about to demand he tell her why he had interfered with her meeting, Sasuke spoke.

"Offer to make them all ninja of Konoha."

Danzou snorted. "Why would we do that? More importantly why should we listen to you? You have interrupted a private meeting between us and the Hokage. This is unacceptable. You are on shaky ground as it is, if not for the Council's support then you would be imprisoned right now."

"These people would be assets to Konoha. First, we have a mercenary who is well-known for almost never failing a mission. Then we have a missing nin from Iwa who most likely has techniques exclusive to their nation. We have a master of seals who can perform acts that none of us can duplicate. He also has access to the Flesh-Eater seal and he probably has more deadly seals at his disposal. Lastly, you could offer them this rather than paying them money. As for why you should listen to me? Because I know what I am talking about." With that last statement, Sasuke smirked.

"What gives you the right to say that? You have no right to interrupt us like you did. Then you have the nerve to think you can tell us what we should do? I recommend you watch yourself from now on." Tsunade glared at Sasuke.

"I understand." Sasuke turned and walked slowly out of the chambers.

"Tsunade," a member of the council spoke up. "Do not be overly angry. What the boy says has some merit to it. It would be to our advantage to permanently gain their services. This Sealmaster has defeated one of Orochimaru's creations. Perhaps he can do so again."

Tsunade shook her head, "We don't know enough about them. We can't trust them."

Danzou spoke this time, "Then let us see if they are trustworthy. We should allow them to move freely through Konoha. If they do not take advantage of their privilege, then will be able to trust them and their intentions."

"Are you suggesting that we put Konoha and its citizens at risk so we can test these mercenaries? That is dangerous and stupid." Tsunade's voice was dripping with contempt.

"Not at all. I merely say that we should relax the guard a little, not stop observing them altogether. How else would we know if they had not taken advantage of our generosity?"

Tsunade sighed. She could tell this was going to be a long debate.

_The streets of Konoha_

Sakura was actually having fun acting as an impromptu tour guide. She knew the village well enough to answer most of the questions her guests asked, while at the same time allowing her to get a better feel for the strange group. Kokorozashi was loud, obnoxious, rude and made fun of everyone that he met. Kougi was quiet, and calm. Doki on the other hand was interesting. She was just as loud and obnoxious as Kokorozashi but Sakura could tell by the way her eyes kept darting around and the tension in her muscles, that she was nervous.

Sakura was just about to suggest they find a place to eat when she heard someone calling out to her.

"Sensei!"

Sakura turned around and saw a familiar face weaving its way through the crowd towards her. She broke into a grin as the individual stopped before her.

"Hanabi! It's good to see you. How is your day off going?" Sakura asked warmly.

"It's alright Sensei. Are these the people who came to treat your teammate?"

"Oh! Sorry, how rude of me. Everyone, this is Hyuga Hanabi. She is a genin on my squad. Hanabi this is Kyuushuu Kougi, that's Gusoku Kokorozashi, and she is Nenshou Doki. The Sealmaster is in a different part of the town taking care of some business at the moment, so he's not here. Actually Hinata is with him." Sakura saw the confusion on some of her guest's faces so she explained.

"Hinata is Hanabi's older sister." As Sakura said that, all present could hear Hanabi let out a derisive snort. Seeing them looking at her questioningly, Hanabi rolled her eyes.

"She's a disgrace. She refuses to follow clan procedures and has openly defied them on several issues. If not for my father, the clan head, she would have had the Caged Bird Seal placed upon her long ago. Her defiance of ancient clan traditions is disgusting. It has made her too kind. She does not act in the manner befitting a Hyuga." Hanabi finished her explanation with a haughty expression on her face.

"Let me get this straight, you said that her problem is that she is too kind?" Doki asked curious.

"In a manner of speaking, yes it is. Her desire to protect not only her teammates but bystanders as well has caused her to fail missions." Hanabi's expression darkened. "That makes all Hyuga look bad, and making the clan look bad is not acceptable."

"So your clan's reputation is more important than the lives of others?" Doki hissed.

"Our clan is the greatest in all of Konoha. We did not get that way by allowing members of our clan to act in the manner that Hinata does." Hanabi was now practically snarling.

"Now Hanabi, Doki, I don't think that you two should be arguing about this. Doki, this is a Hyuga clan matter. Hanabi, Doki is here with the Sealma-" Sakura was cut off.

"I don't care what idiot she is here with. A little girl like her should keep her nose out of grown-up business." Hanabi finished with a sneer at the now enraged Doki.

"Hey! Doki is at least as old as you are."

The Konoha nin turned to look at Kokorozashi. They then looked at the tiny form of Doki who was by now crimson with rage and embarrassment.

"It's not my fault that I'm short!" Doki then stepped forward, closing the distance between her and Hanabi. "You are a bitch. A stuck-up noble bitch. You think that just because you got lucky enough to be born as the child of the head of your clan, that the rules and traditions that let you live so nicely have to be right. You choose to ignore any suffering that those whom your clan is built upon endure. You think that I don't know about the Caged Bird Seal? I travel with a master of seals, of course I know what it's meant to do. Any clan that uses something as terrible as that is nothing but a pack of disgusting, villaniou-"

Doki leapt back to avoid a vicious slap from Hanabi. Hanabi was trembling with fury. Teeth clenched, her hands curled into fists, glaring at Doki.

"How dare you," She snarled. "How dare you, a stupid commoner child, try to tell me that my ancient and noble clan is wrong. I could crush you in an instant with but a single blow from my clan's techniques, you little pathetic worm!"

"Would you care to prove that?" Doki snarled back. Hanabi drew back for a moment almost seeming surprised by the question. Then a malicious grin spread across her face.

"I would like nothing more. Follow me, if you dare." With that Hanabi turned around and began to walk in the direction of the Hyuga compound. Doki hurried after her. Sakura took a step forward and began to call out.

"Wait! You can't do that! You-" she was cut off by Kougi.

"Don't interfere. Neither one has the option of backing out of this fight now."

"What?"

"If either one of them backs out at this time then they would be admitting defeat. A challenge was made and accepted. To back out now would be dishonorable." With that Kougi began to follow the two girls. Sakura quickly following him. Kokorozashi sighed.

"Why doesn't anybody want to fight me?"

_Ramen Stand (Guess which one.)_

"Um, are you sure that it is all right that we eat here." Hinata asked again.

"I told you to take me to your favorite place to eat and that I didn't care how expensive or fancy it was. Besides, I like ramen." The Sealmaster stopped talking for a moment as he slurped more noodles. Hinata and Shino stared at the trail of noodles that went from the bowl, up under his face covering and apparently into his mouth. He had simply told them that there was no way in hell he was taking it off.

"So," The Sealmaster continued. "Why would this simple, although remarkably talented, ramen stand be the favorite spot of a mighty and powerful Hyuga?" He took his now empty bowl and placed it next to the others, while grabbing the next one in line. He noticed their stares and turned back to them, pointing his chopsticks in their direction.

"Hey, I removed two seals today that are supposed to be impossible to remove and I skipped lunch so I could walk here to remove the second one. I'm hungry." With that, he resumed his rapid consumption of noodles.

"Well," Hinata said looking embarrassed, "A person that I greatly admired… He used to eat here all the time. I just felt that… when I eat here it's like… being closer to him… or more like him." Hinata looked away her face red.

"Makes sense to me." The Sealmaster said as he polished off the last of that bowl.

"I was curious about some of the people in your group. How did they come to join you? They seem to very different in their backgrounds." Shino asked.

"So you want some information about my group? What do you want to know?"

"For starters, how did you meet them? Especially Gusoku Kokorozashi. By all reports, he was a loner, almost always doing his jobs alone, except in one or two situations. Why would he then form a partnership with you?"

"Well he tried to kill me a few times, and when that didn't work he kind of just started to follow me around."

"What!" Hinata yelped. Realizing how loud she had been she immediately turned red.

"Ah, it wasn't as weird as it sounded." He paused and then shrugged. "Or maybe it was."

_Council Chambers_

"This is ridiculous!" Tsunade was angry. Very angry.

"We cannot risk the safety of this village to determine if these mercenaries are trustworthy enough to even consider asking them to become ninja of Konoha. We don't even know if they want to join a village. At this point we're merely speculating. We will not risk our village when we don't even know if there is a chance of them agreeing! It's stupid."

Danzou looked about ready to speak when the door opened and a ninja hurried into the chambers.

"My apologizes honored council members, and Lord Hokage, but I have an important message for Hyuga Hiashi. It seems that your daughter Hanabi has challenged one the guests that came with the Sealmaster to a match."

Hiashi rose to his feet. "Who did she challenge?"

"The youngest, the girl that came with the Sealmaster."

Hiashi looked to the others in the chamber.

"My apologizes but it seems that important matters have come up and I must take my leave. We should continue this discussion at a later time." As the rest of the council grudgingly agreed, Hiashi made his way towards the door. Noting some council members and the Hokage following him, Hiashi raised an eyebrow. One of the council members answered his unspoken question.

"The girl is the one of the group that we know the least about. We would like to have an understanding of her capabilities." As he spoke, the rest of the group following Hiashi nodded, showing that they had the same intention.

Satisfied with their response, Hiashi continued his way out of the chambers and towards the Hyuga complex.

_Hyuga Complex_

"You two shouldn't be fighting like this." Sakura was getting desperate. She had yet to find a way of calming the two twelve year olds down.

"She's right, you shouldn't be fighting each other, you should be fighting me."

Sakura spun around and glared at Kokorozashi, who continued his streak of ignoring her.

"Stop asking them to fight you, you know that they aren't going to agree to it."

"I know Kougi, but a man can dream can't he?" Here Kokorozashi's voice took on a whimsical tone.

Sakura was practically spasming from rage.

"How can you two be so calm about this! Your charge is about to fight against my student! Do you have any idea what Hanabi is going to do to her? Hanabi is going to tear her apart for what Doki said!"

Kokorozashi shrugged. "Hanabi is not listening to you and I know that I have no chance of getting Doki to listen to me so why should I bother? Oh look, they're ready to get started."

Sakura turned and looked out towards the center of the dojo that Hanabi had confiscated for the match. All around the edges stood numerous Hyuga who had heard of the match. Standing a little ways away from any Hyuga stood Sakura and her, quickly becoming a pain in her ass, guests. Hanabi and Doki had finished a few basic warm up stretches and had made their way to the center of the room. Hanabi began to sink into the basic stance for the Juken when she saw her father enter the dojo, followed by both the Hokage and several members of the council.

"Father," Hanabi bowed as she spoke. "I did not realize that you would be here. If you desire for us to stop then I would gladly-"

Hiashi cut her off with a single upraised hand. "It is alright. I was just interested, that's all." Hiashi looked at Doki. "You may begin your match when you are ready."

Hanabi bowed to her father. "Thank you, Fath-" hearing a noise, Hanabi turned to see Doki right next to her, one arm thrusting forward to deliver a devastating palm strike.


	6. Things Are Heating Up!

**AN: Greetings and please don't kill me. Yes I know that I told you I was going to try to get this chapter out quickly but I have a good reason. Actually I have about twenty, they're all true and all equally unrealistic. From a person putting a cigarette butt in my eye (I don't smoke), a keg of beer exploding as I stood less than a foot from it (I don't drink either), to me suffering an allergic reaction ( And you sure as hell know that I stay away from anything that could cause one of those). The thing that really caused all this mess is that both I and my proofreader were asked to do more work at our respective places of businesses than normal. I apologize, I know that I suck at getting things up on time. AMAZING amount of reviews for this chapter. Wow. Something I think that is important is that later in the chapter your probably going to think that I have made my OCs to powerful. Not the case. I just wrote the fight scenes and THEN realized that I had set my OCs against people they have natural advantages against. My bad. Their not as good as they may appear. But they are good. Um, thank you all reviewers especially those that once again pointed out errors I made, you can only make my writing better. AN to long. Read story now.**

Chapter Five: Things Are Heating Up!

"What about the girl, Doki?" Shino asked. "How did she come to join your group?"

"I picked her up in a large village to the north of this country."

"Why would she join your group so suddenly?" Shino inquired.

"She was an orphan and needed someone to help train her."

"Why did you let her join you? What motivated you to accept her into your group?"

"Well I didn't see a reason not to, oh and by the way, she was the first one to join up with me. She kind of made it a group in the first place." The Sealmaster pushed the last bowl of ramen next to the others and gave a contented sigh.

"We know somewhat of the fighting styles of the other members of your group, but we seemed to be lacking knowledge of her fighting style. Would you mind filling us in on that?"

The Sealmaster sighed, "So you want more info on us, huh? Well Doki was trained by all of us so she picked up a lot of the methods we use to win. At the same time, she's trying this style of her own design so she's all over the place. Very unpredictable."

"You aren't planning on telling us much about her are you?"

"No, I'm not."

Hinata looked like she was about to speak when a Hyuga rushed into the stand, wildly looking around him. Spotting Hinata, he immediately rushed over.

"Lady Hinata! An emergency! Lady Hanabi is currently fighting against one of the visitors. The young girl! I was sent to find you." The man paused catching his breath.

Hinata looked at the Sealmaster, worried. "We should probably go see what's happening. I mean… Hanabi can get overzealous… she might hurt her. Hanabi is a prodigy."

The Sealmaster stood. "Depending on the situation, fighting Doki can be very dangerous. Normally she's fine but if this Hanabi pushes the wrong buttons then Doki might go too far."

Shino and Hinata got up as well and they began to hurry out of the restaurant, Hinata throwing money on the counter. Shino looked at the Sealmaster.

"Explain what you mean by fighting her can be dangerous, and why would she go too far?"

The Sealmaster sighed. "The Hyuga Clan is known for the seals that they place on their members. One cannot study the corpse of a branch family member and gain anything useful. This caused a division between the two families."

"Yes, but what does that have to do with her?" Hinata asked as the group began to quickly make their way in the direction of the Hyuga Compound.

"Doki came from a clan that killed itself in a civil war. The family had long been divided by the traditions and beliefs of the clan. Some believed that the traditions should not be changed, no matter the cost. Others thought that the old ways should be abolished in an effort to make the clan better. Fighting broke out between the two factions and they wound up killing each other. Doki is very sensitive about that. She sees a similar situation in the Hyuga clan. Someone could easily say something to push her over the top and then we've got ourselves a problem." The Sealmaster fell quiet.

"How dangerous could she get? This could be nothing more than a friendly sparring match." Shino finally spoke.

"I guess that could be the case, but given her past it's not likely. As for how dangerous? Not too dangerous. Unless, of course, it gets personal for her. I don't think that will happen though."

_Hyuga Complex_

Hanabi leapt back in order to avoid the palm strike, dropping into a fighting stance as she did. Doki used the forward momentum from her charge to launch herself forward, landing on her hands. Bending her arms she sprung off the ground feet-first towards Hanabi's face. Hanabi quickly crouched under the attack causing Doki to go over the top of her. Quickly turning to face Doki, Hanabi was struck in the chest by a devastating roundhouse kick. Doki had twisted herself in the air to turn her body to the perfect position to get off a roundhouse kick. Skidding back, Hanabi recovered from the blow just in time to see Doki perform another handspring, once more heading feet first towards her face.

Hanabi crouched again but this time when she turned she was prepared to block and to launch a counterstrike. Doki, this time however, curled her body in the air, turning her handspring into a forward flip. Doki uncurled her body and brought her leg down in a devastating ax-kick that connected with the top of Hanabi's head. Using the kick to push off of Hanabi, Doki landed a few meters in front of Hanabi, sinking into a ready stance.

Hanabi shook her head, trying to clear the stars that were obstructing her vision. Hanabi activated her Byakugan and settled once more into the Juken style's ready stance.

"So you fight by using blind spots to make it impossible for an opponent to counter your strikes. The Byakugan will let me see you though, so there goes your advantage." Hanabi smirked.

On the sidelines, Sakura looked over at the Kougi and Kokorozashi.

"Does she try to strike at vulnerable points or was that a coincidence?" Seeing their confusion Sakura clarified.

"The first blow missed, I think. Doki was trying to strike at Hanabi's throat, it could have caused her to pass out if it had connected. The second blow was aimed at the soft spot at the top of the skull, another vulnerable point."

Kougi nodded. "She does indeed try to strike at vulnerable spots. Her favorite strategy is to strike at the opponent's vulnerable points using the cover of the blind spots in human vision."

Doki finally grew tired of the waiting and charged with a cry. She launched a palm strike towards Hanabi's throat, which Hanabi easily turned aside with the back of her arm. Hanabi responded with a strike of her own. Doki pushed off the ground, turning over in the air above Hanabi's head, before launching a devastating mid air spin kick aimed at the back of the Hyuga's head. Hanabi easily blocked, following it up with a strike to Doki's stomach that sent her flying back.

As Doki climbed warily to her feet, Hanabi took the opportunity to gloat. "Did you honestly think that your pathetic attacks would be able to hurt me once I activated my Byakugan? You took me by surprise and got a few lucky hits in at first, but you are no match for me."

Doki smirked, "Yeah, I shouldn't have kept playing around once you got that bloodline of yours going, but from now on I'm getting serious!"

Doki reached into a pouch on her waist and pulled out a small clump of what looked like dried mud. Keeping a careful eye on Hanabi as she did so, Doki quickly popped it into her mouth.

On the sidelines, Sakura turned to face Doki's companions, a disgusted expression on her face. She opened her mouth to ask a question but was cut off by Kougi.

"The dirt is safe. It was sanitized. She cannot get sick from it. I hope you do not think us so incompetent that we would just take dirt off the ground and place it in our mouths." He finished with a slightly condescending tone. Sakura bowed her head slightly, not making eye contact with him.

Doki began a series of hand seals as Hanabi started to charge. Finishing the seals, Doki spat a stream of mud out of her mouth, aimed for Hanabi. Hanabi leapt to the side, evading the brunt of the attack only having her shoulder covered in mud. As Hanabi prepared to attack again she felt a strange sensation on her shoulder. Looking at it she saw that the mud was beginning to grow, spreading down her arm and towards her torso. She turned and saw Doki smirking at her.

"Doton: Doro Baindingu (Earth Release: Mud Binding) clings to your skin, preventing movement. At the same time, it takes dust and moisture from the air to spread the mud further. It's a pity that the Hyuga don't use Ninjutsu, but why would they? Their style is already perfect isn't it? " Doki's smile was very condescending in nature.

Hanabi's face turned red for a moment before an amused expression crossed her face. She kept looking more and more amused, eventually putting her good arm over her face. Soon snickers could be heard from behind her hand. Finally, she just burst out laughing. As Hanabi regained her composure she looked Doki right in the eye.

"You are a fool to think that any pathetic Ninjutsu can stop the style conceived by the Hyuga Clan. Hakkeshō Kaiten! (Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin)"

Hanabi began to rotate even as chakra poured out of every tenketsu on her body, blasting the mud from her arm and shoulder as well as whipping up a wind that caused those close to Hanabi to brace themselves against. As Doki stopped protecting her eyes from the wind and flying mud, she saw Hanabi charging, ready to strike. With a curse, Doki leapt backwards as she got more mud from her pack, also placing this in her mouth. As she began her hand seals Doki tried to evade Hanabi's rapid blows but was still struck several times in the torso and stomach. Finishing the last seal, Doki leapt upwards unleashing another stream of mud, striking Hanabi in the stomach.

Unlike the previous technique however, there was enough mud in this attack to push Hanabi to the other end of the dojo. When Doki had finally finished the attack, half the other side of the dojo was covered in mud that was, at it's highest, halfway to the knee. As soon as Hanabi had recovered, she began to take a step, only to realize that her legs were stuck in the rapidly hardening mud.

"Doton: Doro Ryouiki! (Earth Release: Mud Field!) If you can't spin then you can't use that technique. Get ready, 'cause here I come!" Doki charged, taking a curved path so that she could get behind the entrapped girl.

Hanabi tried desperately to pull herself out of the now solid mass that had left her immobile. As Doki neared her from behind, Hanabi had an idea. She had noticed that the mud was reinforced with chakra to make it as hard as it was. She began to rapidly strike at the mud binding her legs, emitting bursts of chakra as she did so, hoping to disrupt the chakra that was making the mud extraordinarily hard. The mud began to chip and crack, finally breaking when Doki was merely a few steps away from her. Hanabi immediately went into another spin, with this the chakra blasted Doki back several meters.

Hanabi wasted no time in charging for her own attack, however this time she intended to finish it quickly. She managed to get a strike in while Doki was still stunned, the second strike was partially deflected by Doki, but the last blow caught her directly in the chest, blasting her back once more. Even before Doki had finished skidding, she was beginning to run through hand seals. Hanabi, intending to finish this immediately, shifted into a new stance.

"You are within the range of my divination. Hakke Rokujūyon Shō! (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!)" Across the dojo, Hiashi began to smirk.

Doki finished her hand signs and grabbed her pouch, thrusting it out in front of her with a shout. "Genwaku Tsuchi Kumo! (Blinding Earth Cloud!)"

On the sidelines, Kougi turned to Sakura. "Cover your eyes immediately." He commanded as he buried his face into the sleeve of his shirt. Sakura complied as she heard a loud banging noise, followed by several cries of pain. She could feel air blowing past her from the source of the boom and sneezed when she felt particles of something enter her nose.

" It's alright now," she heard Kougi say, "you can look."

Sakura looked up and saw that several people who were close to the combatants were rubbing their eyes, some groaning in pain. Hanabi however, was staggering backwards viciously rubbing her eyes as tears poured down her face. She was futilely struggling to open her eyes, but the best she could do was a squint.

"The technique forms the dirt into small sharp particles. Once they get into your eyes they are exceedingly difficult to get out." Kougi explained. Kokorozashi just laughed.

Doki wasted no time, immediately going into a flurry of kicks and strikes that Hanabi was left to futilely try to block. Finishing her combo with a vicious kick to Hanabi's gut that sent her flying backwards. Even as Hanabi landed, Doki was already moving around Hanabi in an attempt to get behind her. Hanabi was still rubbing at her watering eyes, desperately trying to clear them.

Sensing the impending attack, Hanabi spun into another Kaiten, forcing Doki to break off her attack. As soon as Hanabi had stopped spinning, she once again began to viciously rub her eyes to the point that Sakura thought they were going to start bleeding. Sakura learned forward as she saw Hanabi force open one eye as Doki resumed her charge.

Doki leapt upwards, going into a spin kick, but was stopped by Hanabi delivering a devastating strike to her gut. Hanabi followed up with a strike to Doki's chest that left her on her knees. Hanabi did not pause before she struck three more times, all to the torso. Hanabi stood over Doki, glaring at the smaller girl who was panting on her hands and knees.

"Pathetic. You claim that our traditions and methods are wrong yet it is you who is left defeated. Who did you think you were? You think you are important just because you are traveling with a person of reputation? Did you decide one day to go play ninja? You should maybe know what you're talking about before you try to lecture me on how a clan should work. It's a blessing to be in a clan, a pity that you won't ever feel that joy."

Hanabi turned and began to walk towards the exit but was stopped by Doki yelling out.

"Joy! I've felt that joy all right! The joy of having my mother killed in front of me! The joy of watching my father fight my grandfather to the death! The joy of my cousins and uncles and nieces and nephews all tearing each other apart because half of them thought we could make ourselves a better family! Believe me, I've felt all the joy I can handle." Hanabi turned as she heard the sound of Doki slowly pulling herself to her feet.

Sakura was quick to notice something wrong. "She's breathing to quickly! She's going to hyperventilate!"

Sakura began to take a step forward but was blocked by a hand on either side of her. She looked up to see Kokorozashi and Kougi both holding a hand out to stop her from moving.

"Do not interfere, her body is designed to handle that level of respiratory activity."

"Yeah, the kick ass fun is about to begin!"

Sakura watched as Doki began to breath faster and faster, until she was practically panting. Doki looked up and Sakura could see that her pupils were dilating, growing larger than she had even seen a healthy person's get. Doki looked straight at Kokorozashi and Kougi before speaking between rapid breaths.

"Sor-ry - it - looks - like - I'm - going - to - have - to - be-come - my- name."

Sakura, as well as most of the observers, looked at the two men whom Doki had been talking to.

"What is she talking about?" Sakura asked while keeping one eye on the panting girl.

"What does it matter?" Hanabi cut in. "She lost and it looks like she going to drop dead in a second. So why don't you drag her out of here before I decide she's become to much of an inconvenience and drag her out myself."

"You're so dead." You could hear the amusement in Kokorozashi's voice. "As for what she meant? Her name is Nenshou Doki (Burning Wrath) and she's simply activating her clan's equivalent to your creepy eye thing."

"It's called a bloodline limit." Kougi interrupted.

"Whatever. It's like your creepy eye thing except it's not for looking around and other stupid stuff. It's purely ass kicking material. It makes you all like whoooooosh! It makes your attacks like all bam and smash, or like boom!" He waved his limbs around and made exaggerated punching and kicking motions.

"What he is saying, in his own strange way, is that the bloodline limit, the Nenshou Jousho (Burning Emotion), causes the body to accelerate almost all bodily functions. The most effected system is the endocrine system. The one that controls the chemicals that the body produces. Right now her body is speeding up, every part of it. Her lungs are transferring air to the blood faster than normal. Her heart is pumping faster, so forth, so on. However this alone would not be significant. The power lies within the fact that her body is being flooded with the chemicals that make the human body more ready to face danger, like adrenaline, for example. Her blood has been flooded with several times more than a normal person's body could ever produce in such a short time."

"How could that help someone in a fight? Her blood is full of chemicals? Is she doped up or something?" Hanabi shook her head in contempt.

"No," Sakura said. She had understood the implications. "Adrenaline along with other body chemicals is what gives people extra strength when they are in trouble. There are situations when old grandmothers have gotten so worked up that they rolled overturn carts that were over a metric ton in weight to save their trapped grandchildren. It's an extreme example, but those natural chemicals can make an ordinary person do incredible things. To increase it several times over…"

All eyes turned back to Doki as she began to let out a growl. They could see chakra beginning to rise from her body. Kokorozashi spoke again.

"Her body's ability to produce chakra also increases, she has refilled her chakra reserves as we have been talking, the chakra is now trying to escape so it doesn't build up. Otherwise she would go boom!"

Doki's growling had increased significantly and had begun to sink into a stance similar to that of a sprinter getting ready to start. Hanabi sunk once more into the Juken stance.

" You don't have a chance to beat me." Hanabi began. "Even if you are stronger I am still a Hyu-"

Doki leapt forward with blinding speed her hand striking Hanabi's face. In mid-air, Doki grabbed Hanabi's face with her hand and as she landed used her momentum to slam Hanabi into the floor with enough force to shatter the dojo floor. Keeping her grip on the irritating Hyuga's head, Doki began to run forward, using Hanabi to tear up the floor of the dojo as they went. Reaching the wall, Doki pulled up on Hanabi before letting her go, leaving Hanabi temporarily air born. Grabbing the front of Hanabi's outfit as she fell, Doki slammed her into the wall with enough force to cause the wall to crack.

Holding Hanabi against the wall with one hand, Doki used her other hand to rain devastating blows onto Hanabi. Hanabi tried to both block and strike back against the enraged girl but her blocks could not withstand the intensity of Doki's blows and her attacks seemed to have no effect. Doki finally pulled Hanabi out of the crater in the wall and threw her across the room, where Hanabi hit and finally rolled to a stop. Doki let out another growl as the chakra that was pouring out of her body began to increase.

Sakura turned to Kougi. "There's no way a person can increase so much in strength that quickly. If they could, then her clan would have been famous!"

It was Kokorozashi that responded however. "Yeah, that would be true, if there weren't so many drawbacks. There was a reason she apologized to us when she started using it. Boss doesn't like it. You think you can fill your body with all that crap and not be effected in a bad way? Her body's gonna shut down pretty quickly. If she doesn't stop soon then it'll be down to what gives out first. Will her heart explode from going too fast? Maybe her liver will just quit on her? The more she speeds her body up the worse the damage is. At max power she's got maybe thirty seconds before every organ in her body shuts down permanently."

"You also must take into consideration her opponent." Kougi cut in. "Juken uses chakra to do damage. A side effect of her bloodline is the chakra that is flowing from her body. That chakra is acting like a buffer from the Juken, reducing it's damage. Against an opponent that uses a more physical style, Doki would have taken more damage."

"Wait you said this technique can kill her? Why aren't you stopping her?" Sakura was aghast.

"The main reason? Tell me what the effect of adrenaline is." Kougi requested.

"Adrenaline increases the body's natural functions, it increases aggression and… oh shit!" Sakura turned her attention back to Doki, who was watching Hanabi struggle to her feet. "That's why she's acting strange. Her aggression must be through the roof!"

"Yep. There's only one person who can calm her down in this state, and he's not here right now. She'd probably attack us if we interfered. She'll probably calm down after she beats the crap out of the one who pissed her off and things will be fine."

Doki chose that moment to spring forward once more. Hanabi attempted to strike her enraged opponent, but Doki managed to get under the strike and kick Hanabi's feet out from under her. Even before Hanabi hit the ground, she could feel the blows raining down upon her. Hanabi felt one of her ribs crack and then her arm popping out of it's socket. Finally the blows stopped, and Hanabi felt Doki's hands on either side of her head.

Doki lifted Hanabi's head off the ground and tilted it so they were eye to eye. Doki grinned at the feeble attempts Hanabi was making to fight back.

"You seem proud of those eyes," Doki said with a smirk, "maybe I should burn them out of your head!"

The chakra flowing from Doki body began to increase until it was bursting outwards. Visible burns could be seen forming of Hanabi's face, starting at where Doki's hands were holding Hanabi's head, and moving outwards. As Doki's words sunk in, several Hyuga, as well as Sakura, began to move to break up the fight. Even as Sakura took her first step, a blur shot past her, kicking up a wake behind it.

The Sealmaster came to a stop next to the two combatants. Calmly but quickly, he reached over with one hand and grabbed the back of Hanabi's shirt. His other hand was raised and then brought down and across in a vicious backhand that knocked Doki across the dojo, causing her to lose her grip on Hanabi. The Sealmaster glared at the girl who was pulling herself to her knees, not releasing his grip on Hanabi.

"Are you back in control or do I have to beat your sense back into you?" His voice was calm contrasting with the rage that was clearly visible in his posture and words.

"I-I'm… I'm good. I got control." Even as the small girl spoke, the chakra flaring from her body faded and dissipated. As the last of the chakra faded, Doki slumped forward looking pale. Even as Sakura noted the sickly hue the girl had taken, she also became aware of Hinata and Shino standing next to her.

The Sealmaster gently set Hanabi, who had lost consciousness, onto the ground. Immediately several Hyuga rushed forward to try and tend to the head of the clan's daughter. They, however, were stopped by Sakura yelling for them to get out of her way. As Sakura knelt beside her student, she noted that Kougi was also crouching down beside her. As Sakura was opening her mouth to tell the man to piss off so she could work, she froze at the sight of the man beginning a basic diagnosis jutsu. After a moment, Sakura also began checking her student for injuries. When they finished a moment later, Sakura looked up at Kougi whom nodded, showing that he had found nothing serious.

"She has minor injuries, but there's no lasting damage to any part of her body. I was able to patch up her ribs and pop her shoulder back in place." Sakura informed the gathered crowd. Hiashi however, was not satisfied with this and strode up to the Sealmaster with an angry expression.

"Your companion very nearly blinded my daughter. That went well beyond what is considered acceptable in a match like this. What do you intend to do about this?"

"Absolutely nothing. Nothing happened. My companion almost severely wounded your daughter. To try and get some kind of compensation out of it would be like me saying that you almost called off the match so the fight never happened. No one was permanently hurt, so I'm not going to do anything."

"You should be more careful with your words." Hiashi hissed. "You are already on dangerous grounds."

"Is that a threat?" Kokorozashi cut in.

"Are you truly so ignorant that you are unable to figure that out?" Hiashi retorted.

"No, I just made a mistake once and thought someone was threatening me when he wasn't. Poor bastard. But since you are threatening us we can have some fun!" With that, Kokorozashi removed his sword from his back and pointed at Kougi.

"All right! Kougi you take the ones on the right!" He spun and pointed his sword at the Sealmaster.

"You take the ones on the left!" Kokorozashi then brought his sword down so that it was pointing straight at Hiashi.

"I got the ugly one. He looks like he might be half decent."

There was a moment of silence in which every Hyuga present had an expression of absolute amazement on their faces. That moment was followed by the sound of nearly every Hyuga present activating their Byakugan simultaneously. Hiashi himself just had an absolutely stunned expression upon his face.

"Damn it! Do you have no sense at all?" Doki shouted even as she began to cough violently.

Hiashi finally seemed to recover from his shock. His expression darkened as he began to sink into the Juken style's ready stance. As he did so, Kokorozashi swung his sword back, ready to attack. The two stared at each other for a long moment, all attention quickly becoming focused on the two men.

With a cry, Kokorozashi rushed forward as Hiashi prepared himself to counterattack. Kokorozashi swung his immense blade with a roar.

Only to have the hilt caught one-handed by the Sealmaster, effectively stopping it. Hiashi stopped his counter, seeing that their impromptu match had been interrupted. After a short pause, the Sealmaster spoke, his voice carrying a dangerous tone.

"I believe that Doki's question is very relevant. Even you know better than to behave like this. Are you truly so starved for battle that you have been reduced to this? It would do you well to take a moment and calm down before I have to make you."

Hiashi took this moment to speak up. "I am interested in something, Sealmaster. Your current stance would not have allowed you to stop my counterattack had I not stopped it myself. Why is that the case?"

"I didn't need to protect Kokorozashi. To harm him through his armor, you would have had to put an unrealistic amount of chakra into the blow. Means other than the Juken are necessary to defeat Kokorozashi. He is a rather… unique opponent." The Sealmaster paused before addressing Kokorozashi.

"If I give you your sword back can I trust you to behave with it?"

"Maybe."

The Sealmaster gave a sigh before releasing his grip on the weapons hilt. Kokorozashi immediately returned it to its place on his back. The Sealmaster turned to face Hiashi and gave a short bow.

"Your daughter and my student had a match here. I stopped the match because I believed that a clear winner had been determined. Nothing more, nothing less. The match is over, so I think that it would be best if we were to be on our way."

Hiashi nodded. "I agree. I will have someone escort you out."

"That won't be necessary. We will just be on our way."

"Hold on!" Kokorozashi roared. "Before we go, there is one last thing that needs to be done."

"You!" Kokorozashi spun and pointed straight at Hinata, who let out a short 'eep'. "Well endowed, attractive Hyuga, I have grown hungry. As one who was commanded to assist us, I desire for you to take me to a restaurant worthy of one of my great might!"

"Crap. I thought we got rid of all the drugs, but we apparently missed some." Doki said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"That was not my fault! I didn't know what was in those pills!"

"Then why did you take them?"

"That is beside the point!"

"Enough!" The Sealmaster cut in. He then turned to Hinata, whom was looking rather embarrassed at the prior reference to her bust size. "Would you mind taking us to a restaurant of at least moderate quality?"

"Not at all." she responded quietly.

The Sealmaster nodded and began to head for the entrance, followed by the rest of his group plus Sakura, Shino, and Hinata. As they exited the building, Kokorozashi noted that Doki was walking rather stiffly.

"Hey, come here."

As Doki turned towards him, Kokorozashi grabbed her by the arm and swung her up onto his shoulder.

"That better?" He asked.

"A bit high." Doki retorted staring at the ground meters below her.

"Deal with it. Hey boss, how's the arm?"

The Sealmaster looked up at the looming figure. "Hurts like hell."

"That's what you get for pulling a stunt like that. What, were you trying to look all cool and badass?"

"Yeah, I pulled it off too, so shut it."

"Excuse me?" Sakura said. "I was just wondering, didn't you eat already?"

"Yeah, but running a couple miles immediately after eating is really not a good idea."

"Um, what does that mean?"

"I threw up about halfway here."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

**AN: Thought I would add a few things here at the end. The post-battle is my favorite part in this chapter. Also many reviewers have asked me not to make Hinata pair off with Naruto. This is acceptable to me because I did not intend to have them together anyways. A few mentioned Hinata's stutter having improved. Well in my opinion people tend to increase her stutter in fanfics quite a bit. There have been some cases when, if she actually stuttered that badly in the show I never would have been able to understand her. But yes she has improves that somewhat over the years. I was asked if Naruto had mastered the whole library yet. He has not mastered all the seals, it is a library after all, lots of info. What he has done, however is to learn some seals and use the knowledge that the scrolls contain, thing like theory for instance, and make his own seals. The best of which you will be seeing later. One final thing, many of you previously stated that you did not want to see a Sasuke/Naruto fight. I have one planned for later that I feel is important to the advancement of the plot. Some of you said that the fight should not happen just because Sasuke is a whiney girl who gets everything that he cries about. That isn't the case with this fight, they both have reasons to fight now and I feel that their characters if put in this situation would act in the manner that I intend them too. Just thought I should let you know.**


	7. Cat: 1, Bag: 0

-1**AN: I am ashamed! The only thing keeping me from throwing myself out of my window and falling to my death is that then the story would remain unfinished (And I live on the ground floor.). I have no excuse, it was fully my fault for being so negligent in my writing. On a lighter note I would like to point out that this is the longest chapter I have written to date. I would also like to thank all who reviewed. It means so much to me that you would take the time to let me know what you think about my writing. Let's see, some info you all will probably like to know: In-between this chapter and the previous one the aspects of Kokorozashi's armor are revealed, off-screen. I feel that I do not convey what is now known about the armor well in the story, but am stuck on how to make it better. So I'll just tell you: Certain parts of the body can only be wrapped so many times before they will not work anymore: fingers, joints, etc. so those area's are also reinforced with more traditional armor as well. **

**Questions that I will answer: Yes Konoha missed Naruto, however Naruto was underground for a while (literally) and they eventually stopped looking for him after a while (5 years is a long time.). Next Naruto carries most of the scrolls that he found at the ruins with him. Sealed in a scroll that he carries with him. He probably could find his way back to the ruins, given enough time (or someone who can read a map). Kokorozashi is completely mine, his original idea was based of some fanficiton that I never finished. I plan on parodying a scene from the work he was originally in later on in the story, so that should be fun (For me). As for why Sakura didn't heal Doki the answer is that the danger is the organs shutting down. Once Doki deactivates her Bloodline her body begins to restore the normal levels on their own, so that danger would not be serious. If the organs don't shut down, she'll be fine. Naruto does in fact care about his friends he's just 'in disguise' so he's pretending not to care. It's kind of like a prank for him, "haha I got you!" kind of deal. Pairing wise? To tell the truth I hadn't planned on pairing Naruto with anybody in the main part of the story. Do you think that Naruto needs to be paired with somebody? Just so you know I don't write Yaoi. Nothing against it, I just don't find it enjoyable personally, and I write what I like.**

Chapter Six: Cat: 1 Bag: 0.

"Now that we have seen that fight there is no doubt that we should try and recruit them." Danzou's grin threatened to split his face in half. "The youngest is the sole remaining member of a clan that had a powerful bloodline limit. To pass up this opportunity would be nothing short of madness."

"You also seem to have forgotten that there was an extreme lack of self-control from them. Not only did one almost blind my daughter, another attempted to assault me in my own home!"

Tsunade smirked, "Not your brightest moment, hmmm, Hiashi? Almost getting smeared across your own walls really doesn't look good does it?"

Hiashi responded with a glare.

"Enough insults," another council member cut in, "What we have here is a very unique opportunity. With Orochimaru not acting against us in recent times, we must assume that he is planning something especially insidious. These people could be of assistance to use in combating him, already one has found a way to neutralize one of Orochimaru's favorite creations, the Cursed Seal. To face Orochimaru unprepared is paramount to suicide. The Third was not prepared for the twisted and dark techniques that Orochimaru had created and he paid the price."

A silence fell over the chambers as all present considered those words. At last Danzou spoke up in a placating tone.

"Now, Lord Hokage, I think that I may have a solution that we can all live with. If these people are offered a chance to join Konoha and they accept, then you can have full say in all matters relating to them. This would allow you to decide how long they are watched, who watches them, and anything else you feel that you need to do to protect the safety of this village."

Tsunade sighed. She looked around the chambers meeting the eyes of all the members of the council.

"Is this an acceptable arrangement for all present?"

All the members of the council nodded, some grudgingly and others with outright glares.

"All right then," Tsunade said tiredly. "It is getting late so we can present our offer to them tomorrow morning before they leave. If that's everything then I think that this meeting has been concluded."

With those last words the council stood and began to leave. They filed out past the Hokage until at last she was the only one left in the chambers. Looking towards the ceiling she let out a sigh.

"I hope that we are doing the right thing."

_Restaurant in Konoha_

"All right I think that it's just about done." Sakura said as she finished healing the large bruise that adorned Doki's forehead.

"You couldn't tell me you where going through a door?!" Doki glared at Kokorozashi.

"You should have been paying attention."

"I thought that you would at least warn me!"

"Yeah? Well, sucks to be you."

"Um," Hinata spoke up in an attempt to stop the arguing, "Kokorozashi…why is it that you are have not fully removed the armor about you face?"

Kokorozashi paused in his eating for a moment. He had unwrapped many of the layers of metal strips that covered his face and jaw revealing a hinged metal jaw covering his real one. This metal jaw was open just wide enough so that food could be inserted into it, but it was not open wide enough to get a look at his face. Sakura had to admire the complexity and efficiency of the armor. There was a limit to the number of strips that the man could wrap around himself, especially in places like his fingers. So, he had placed more traditional armor on those places and wrapped those in his strips. Sakura's respect for the Kokorozashi, what little she had, had gone up. He had been shoveling food into his mouth using an abnormally large kunai, due to his armored hands being to large to hold chopsticks properly. After a short pause Kokorozashi snorted.

"I never take off my armor if I can help it." With that he went back to impaling a half-dozen dumplings and consuming them with a sickening rapidity.

"Can you clarify what you mean, when you say you never take it off you mean…?" Shino asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"He means that he wears it all the time, eating, sleeping, actually the only time he takes it off is to bathe." The Sealmaster explained between bites of dumpling, which were inserted under his mask. Kougi was quick to cut in.

"Unfortunately he tends to go far to long between those instances. Much to our chagrin of course."

All present turned their gazes to the mountainous form that sat upon the floor at the end of their table, and still loomed over them. Kokorozashi paused in his eating for a moment before flipping Kougi off. He then went back to his eating. Sakura, however, was still curious.

"But why would you leave your armor on all the time? Wouldn't it get in the way?"

Kokorozashi gave a long sigh before he put down his kunai. He turned to Sakura who was looking at him curiously.

"Look it's like this, how would you feel if you were naked right now?"

"WHAT!" Sakura practically shrieked.

"How would you feel if you were naked at this very moment?" Kokorozashi repeated slowly as if speaking to a small child.

"Embarrassed!"

"Physically how would you feel!"

"Cold!"

"Weight-wise dammit!"

"Lighter," Sakura replied after a pause, "I would feel a little bit lighter."

Kokorozashi gave another sigh. "Finally you give me the right answer. Now why would you feel lighter when you do not have clothes on? We are not born with clothes, so tell me why do we not notice the weight of the clothes that we wear all the time? Why does not wearing clothing leave us feeling a tiny bit lighter?"

"Because our bodies are used to the weight, of course." Sakura was quick to respond.

"Why are our bodies used to this weight?" You could practically hear Kokorozashi's smile as he asked the question.

"Because we wear clothes all the time. Oh…" Sakura paused at this revelation. "You wear it all the time because that way you are used to the weight! You don't even feel the armor your wearing do you?"

"Nope, not a bit. What I typically do is I add a little more armor and soon I adapt to that weight, and after a while I don't even notice a difference. I have slain many people who have underestimated my speed while wearing this. That speed I owe to the fact that my armor does not feel like armor to me, it is like it is a part of my body."

The table grew quite as the Konoha ninja digested that piece of knowledge, and as the outsiders digested dumplings. Finally it was the Sealmaster who broke the silence.

"In a way it could be said that Kokorozashi trains twenty-four hours a day."

Sakura shuddered. "Please don't say that again."

The Sealmaster leaned forward. "And why shouldn't I say that again?"

Sakura sighed. "There is a ninja in this village who is a bit obsessed with hard work and training. His name's Rock Lee, and if he heard of someone who was training for twenty-four hours a day he'd probably end up killing himself trying his training for the same length of time. His trainings brutal enough as it is."

"Would you say that this Rock Lee is particularly strong?" Kokorozashi asked with something akin to glee in his voice.

"Oh yes. He's probably in the top…Why do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"No particular reason, I just think it might be fun to meet this Rock Lee before we leave that's all." Kokorozashi chuckled menacing. As he finished his evil chuckling his arm snapped up to point at Hinata, who started.

"You! Only Hyuga that I have seen who doesn't look like you were beaten with the ugly stick as a child! You haven't had a bit to eat, now everyone else has eaten something but you haven't. What little conscience that I have will not allow me to eat in peace if you starve yourself!" Here he let out an overly dramatic sigh. "Now don't tell me that your on one of those ridiculous 'girl diets'.

"I'm sorry… It's just that I already ate before the mission. I'm just not…not hungry." Hinata replied looking a little bit intimidated at the imposing figure. Sakura however had no qualms about yelling at Kokorozashi.

"Hey! Why do you keep calling Hinata all those weird nicknames?! It's rude."

"So?"

The Sealmaster sighed. "Kokorozashi simply does not care enough to remember a persons real name. He also doesn't care if he's rude and he gets sick pleasure out of both pissing people off and humiliating them. Ignore him, he won't go away but you might learn to tune him out…If your lucky."

Sakura glared at Kokorozashi for a long moment before turning her gaze back to the Sealmaster. "We have a nice hotel picked out for you to stay at, compliments of the village. We set aside a nice suite on the top floor-"

"Bottom floor, with no basement." Kougi cut in.

"Huh? Why not the suite?" Sakura asked curiously.

The Sealmaster pointed at Kokorozashi who waved cheerily.

"He weighs enough to collapse just about any floor you put him on, unless its set on the ground, or heavily reinforced."

"I make life harder for everybody!"

"That you do Kokorozashi, that you do."

_Outside the Restaurant_

As the group filed out of the restaurant non noticed the pair of red eyes peering down at them from a nearby tree with burning intensity, and beneath those eyes was a grin of pure anticipation.

_The next morning outside of a hotel with no basement, which had a suite on the ground floor._

Kokorozashi crouched down next to the Sealmaster before leaning close and whispering quietly, "I understand being ready in advance, that cuts down the chances of any of this village's pathetic excuse for ninja from figuring out who you are. So it's good that they're not trying to run us out of town. But I don't see how this is going to get your goals accomplished."

"Wheels within wheels Kokorozashi, wheels within wheels."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean."

"It's a saying."

"Didn't I tell you that if you used one of those moronic sayings again I was going to beat you with my sword?"

"I believe that I have proven on several occasions that you are not good enough to follow through on that."

"This is different."

"How so?"

"Before you had yet to accomplish your goal, but now you have. This means that the power you gained from trying to accomplish your promise is no longer there, so now I have the advantage."

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard."

"Hi guys were ready!" Doki came bouncing out of the hotel followed closely by the much more reserved Kougi, who quickly meet the Sealmaster's gaze.

"Has our escort arrived yet?" Kougi asked even as he subtly glanced toward a nearby tree.

"No they seem to be running a little late." The Sealmaster said as he rubbed the back of his neck. His gaze meet Kokorozashi's and as he brought his arm down from his neck one of his fingers pointed for just a moment at the same tree that Kougi had gestured towards. Kokorozashi gave a loud growl anticipation as he spun around before he began to circle the group seemingly pleased.

"When I find them I'm gonna kill them!" he shouted as he delivered a kick to a nearby tree. The same tree that the Sealmaster had pointed towards. The tree turned out to not be strong enough to withstand the force of the kick and the point of impact completely shattered. As the tree toppled to the ground two ninja quickly leapt from the upper branches of the tree to the safety of the ground.

"Wow," Doki said with a grin, "It looks like ninja do grow on trees."

"Ah, yes." Kokorozashi added, "I thought that there might be a hive of pesky insects buzzing around up there. I guess I'll have to exterminate them."

"Now Kokorozashi, if you did that then we wouldn't be able to find out what they were doing spying on us. Not to mention, one of them is our guide from yesterday, remember."

"Oh yeah, pinkie head. How could I ever forget that ridiculous hair?"

Sakura put her head down in embarrassment. "Sorry, but we were asked to see how you would react if you thought you were alone. I guess we couldn't hide well enough." Sakura gave a strained laugh. Her accomplice on the other hand didn't even try to appear amused.

"What the hell were you thinking knocking that tree over like that! Give me one good reason I shouldn't beat the hell out of you?!" Kokorozashi didn't hesitate before answering.

"Because you can't." Sakura wasted no time in cutting in.

"Um, this is Yamanaka Ino. We were asked to observe you for a little while before meeting with you. I guess we weren't good enough to hide from you guys!" Sakura finished with an admirable attempt at a winning smile.

"That much is painfully clear." Kougi deadpanned.

"Yeah, um, the Hokage should be along shortly. Until then, how about we get something to eat?"

"We have already eaten," Came Kougi's reply. "we finished off some of our older travel supplies before they went bad."

" How about we go… maybe we could stop at th-" Sakura was cut off by Tsunade, who had managed to get right behind her undetected. Behind her were several notable members of the council.

"I don't think that will be necessary Sakura. I'm here now so we can get right down to business."

"Lord Hokage, it is a pleasure to see you again. I hope that everything is alright with Sasuke? No side effects of any kind?" The Sealmaster asked politely.

"No," Tsunade answered, "He was fine last I saw. Nothing to lead us to believe that something went wrong."

"That is good to hear, now then lets get down to the matter at hand. How much were you planning to pay us for our services?" The Sealmaster said as leaned up against the front of the hotel.

"Actually, that is something that I would like to talk to you about. The Council and I were so impressed with your skills that we are going to offer you the opportunity to become shinobi of Konoha. Now something you should understand is that we would instead of the money you would normally receive we would supply you with a place to live. All in all it is a very unusual and generous offer. You would be able to receive missions more consistently and probably make more money than you would otherwise."

The Sealmaster turned his head towards his companions for a moment making eye-contact with each of them in turn. At last he turned back to Tsunade.

"I will need to discuses this with the rest of my group, if that is all right with you?"

Tsunade nodded and stepped a few paces backwards, away from him. The Sealmaster turned and stepped closer to his companions, so that they might talk unheard.

"So," he started "Do any of you have any problems with this arrangement?"

Kokorozashi raised his hand. "I have a question. Did you do something intentional to have this happen or did you just come in here and wing it? 'Cause I think that your probably the freaking luckiest bastard alive."

The Sealmaster shrugged. "A little of both. I had a plan, it was just a very vague, open-ended plan. So what do you guys think? I know we hadn't really discussed would happen when I got invited back but I always assumed that you guys would be hanging around. You know I won't force you though."

Doki laughed. "What would I do? I don't really have anything else than this, so why would I leave? I'm perfectly content with staying with you." Doki finished with a shrug.

Kokorozashi spoke up next. "Hey I gave my word that I would hang around you until I finally crush you. That whole never break our word so we can be strong deal."

Finally Kougi spoke. "I have yet to pay you back for the life debt that I owe you. To leave now would forever stain my honor."

The Sealmaster turned to face the Hokage patiently waiting behind him. "We all agree. Were do we sign?"

Tsunade nodded before holding up a small scroll. She walked over to where they were standing and handed it to the Sealmaster. "You all must sign it. In your real names. I know that you have an aversion to giving out your name but you are now apart of this village."

"That's perfectly reasonable. Now lets see… Yes everything on here looks alright. Now lets see where did I…" The Sealmaster began to go through several pockets on the inside of his cloak finally pulling out a pen. He stepped up next to the wall of the hotel and held the scroll their with one hand as he signed with his other. The way he was standing had his body blocking his signature. Once he finished, he moved aside to allow Doki to add her signature next to his. Then Kougi, followed by Kokorozashi who used an abnormally large pen that the Sealmaster had pulled from another pocket on his cloak.

"There we are, all finished, here you go Lord Hokage." With that the Sealmaster tossed the now signed scroll to Tsunade, who held up a hand to catch it. However, before the scroll made contact with her hand it was intercepted by a blur that shot passed them, to come to rest leaning against a nearby tree.

"Sasuke! What do you think your doing!" Tsunade shouted at the young man, who was casually tossing the scroll into the air and catching it over and over.

"I was just making an entrance that's all." Sasuke said without so much as looking at her, his gaze locked solely on the Sealmaster. "Here, you wanted this right?"

Sasuke tossed the scroll to Tsunade, who caught it easily. Tsunade was openly seething at the disrespect the Uchiha was showing her. "What has gotten into you? Blatant disrespect we have come to expect from you but have you lost your mind? Interfering in not only a council meeting but then disrupting us now, what would possess you to act so stupidly?"

Sasuke smirked. "That moron over there told me that we would have a fight today if he had the time. I don't see any reason for him to back out now, isn't that right?" His last remark addressed to the Sealmaster.

"No, I suppose I don't have any excuse not to. I believe I did say I would fight if I had the time. Well I guess I have all the time I could need now." The Sealmaster shrugged. "Where are we going to have this delightful match? A street in the middle of the village might not be the best place."

Tsunade began to step forward to put an end to this fight before it started when she was stopped by Danzou.

"Just a moment, Tsunade." He whispered to her. "This could prove beneficial to us. Not only do we lack data on this Sealmaster's fighting style but the outcome could be beneficial to us as well. If this Sealmaster proves to be enough of a challenge for the Uchiha then the Uchiha may very well throw himself back into his training, and get him out of our hair for the time being."

Tsunade paused to consider this. Sasuke lived to kill his brother. When he had been returned to Konoha the amount his skills had grown was awe inspiring. Since his return he had continued to grow at an almost frightening rate. Recently however it seemed that he was beginning to think that he might be strong enough to defeat and kill his brother. His training had slowed somewhat and he had begun to make a nuisance of himself trying to convince her and the council that he should be allowed to seek out his Itachi. While it was still unknown if the Uchiha was, as some of his fan (stalkers) claimed, the strongest ninja in the village. He had however easily defeated several high ranking leaf ninja who had challenged him. It was possible that a defeat could get the Uchiha to stop bothering them and focus more on training. It was also true that they had little knowledge of the Sealmaster's fighting style.

Tsunade nodded her agreement to Danzou as she heard Sasuke finish telling his soon to be opponent the location of their match.

"Are you sure you can find your way? Or will you just end up getting lost?" Sasuke finished.

"Oh I think I will manage just fine. All right, I want their to be a nice crowd for when I make Sasuke cry. So Doki, I need you to go and attract people, be obnoxious and rude if possible. Kokorozashi… just go be yourself. Kougi your with me."

Kokorozashi saluted and Doki gave a thumbs up before they headed off on their tasks. Kougi got the Sealmaster's attention with a polite gesture before leaning in close so as not to be overheard.

"The crowd that Kokorozashi and Doki will draw will end up on the side of the battlefield that is closest to us. It would be better for us to enter the training grounds from a different direction." The Sealmaster nodded his understanding.

"Lord Hokage my companion and I are planning on taking a few minutes to get to the location of the match. I would hate for you to waste your time. So was there anything else that you needed me for?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Shizune here only needs to give you your forehead protectors," Tsunade turned and walked away calling over her shoulder. "Oh, I plan on watching this match of yours so try to put on a good show."

The Sealmaster chuckled. "I'll do my best."

_Large, out of the way training field._

A moderate crowd had gathered made up of ninja, villagers (Who were keeping well back), and the Hokage, followed by her entourage of council-people. Most were to various degrees in a bad mood, most likely due to the antics of the Sealmaster's companions.

"That's right everyone today is your lucky day! You get to see the Uchiha smeared across the ground!" Doki was standing on Kokorozashi's shoulder with one foot resting on his head in an attempt at a dramatic pose.

"Were also taking donations! This money will be put to the good use of surgically removing the stick from the Uchiha's ass! Then as an added bonus we'll beat him over the head with it! So donate now!" Kokorozashi was going for the vulgar approach.

Sasuke himself was a ways away from the crowd standing perfectly still. The expression on his face might have been one of serenity if not for the fact that his Sharingan was blazing.

Most of the crowd was discussing the upcoming battle. Those that knew of the Sealmaster's recent addition to the forces of Konoha had wasted no time in letting the others know. There were some who disliked the Uchiha for his disrespect, others for the fact that he had at one time betrayed Konoha. However none doubted his power. The battle between the Uchiha and the well known Sealmaster had attracted the attention of many.

The crowd quitted as Sasuke abruptly turned away from the crowd towards the other side of the training field. As they all watched two figures came into view. A hush seemed to have fallen over the entire crowd allowing the pairs conversation to be heard by those present.

"Are you certain that it is wise for you to reveal it here?" Kougi asked.

"They would find out soon anyways, I did sign the contract after all." Came the Sealmaster's reply.

"True, but in the presence of such a large number of people…"

"They will make no move so long as the Hokage is present." The Sealmaster cut Kougi off.

"If you are sure."

As they neared Sasuke the pair separated, Kougi heading towards Doki and Kokorozashi, while the Sealmaster walked within a few meters of Sasuke. Here he stopped an looked Sasuke dead in the eye.

"Well," The Sealmaster said at last, "It's been awhile hasn't it Sasuke?"

"About two years if I'm not mistaken. I have been waiting for a chance to redeem myself from that embarrassing lose. For the sake of clarity, what is the score up to this point?"

"Tied one to one I would say."

On the sidelines Sakura turned to her two instructors. "Tsunade, Kakashi, what are they talking about? Did Sasuke ever fight the Sealmaster other than the time Sasuke was returned?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Not to my knowledge. Could it be that Sasuke fought him on a mission and neglected to inform us?"

Tsunade snorted amusedly. "Not a chance. He hasn't gone on a solo mission since he was reinstated as a Konoha shinobi. We would have heard about it if he had fought him from his teammates."

Sasuke after a long pause finally spoke again. "I see this as our first real fight."

The Sealmaster tilted his head, "Oh? Why is that?"

"Because this is the first fair fight we will have had. In our last conflict you had the element of surprise as well as a well laid out trap, giving you the advantage. In the fight before that you were tired out from several battles beforehand causing me to have the advantage. Here we are both well rested and neither of us will have set traps beforehand."

The Sealmaster laughed. "I suppose in a way your right. I never thought about that way before. Oh! Now I'm really excited. I can hardly wait for us to begin!"

Sasuke nodded. "However something needs to be done before we begin."

"Oh? What's that?"

"This." Sasuke reached into a pocket and pulled out a leaf forehead protector and tying it to his head. As he did this the crowd murmured. While the Uchiha was a ninja of the village he, for the most part, choose not to wear his forehead protector. He stated that he did not need it as he was to powerful to allow himself to get hit in the forehead. His second reason was that he did not wear against opponents that he did not recognize as powerful. Only two opponents since the day of his return had received the 'honor' of Sasuke battling them with his headband. Other than that he wore it only when ceremony required him to.

"There," he said as he straightened his forehead protector, "I wear this to show that we fight as equals, both as true shinobi of the Leaf. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

As the crowd continued to murmur, Tsunade noticed Shizune pushing her way though to reach her. As the younger woman finally reached the Hokage, Tsunade spoke up.

"Well how did everything go?"

"Fine, I'm sorry I took so long. I had difficulty finding you in this crowd. Like I said everything was fine. Except for one strange thing."

"Which was?"

Shizune shrugged. "I gave there leader enough for all of them, but he gave me one of them back. He told me that he already had one."

At this Tsunade frowned. The most likely explanations of that would be if he was a missing nin from leaf or he had killed a leaf ninja and had taken theirs. Both possibilities worried her. She was shocked out of her thoughts by the Sealmaster suddenly laughing. After a moment his loud, bellowing laughter faded.

"I like this. I like this a lot. This fight is going to be great. I have no doubt of that."

Sasuke sighed. "Hurry up. If this was a race you would really be living up to your dead last status."

At those words most of the crowd turned to each other in confusion, failing to understand the meaning of Sasuke's words. Some however stiffened as understanding struck them.

Sakura was gaping in shock. "No way, it's not possible. It's just to…to… it's not, theirs no way."

Similar reactions were coming from her old classmates.

The Sealmaster nodded his understanding to Sasuke and reached into his cloak before pulling out a leaf forehead protector. Reaching up and grabbing his mask he tore it off in one sharp motion. The head cloth slipped off revealing short, spiky, shockingly bright blond hair.

Most of the crowd now seemed to have caught on. Some of the council members seemed on the verge of heart attacks as several of Naruto's old classmates were doing decent impressions of fish, eyes bulging and mouths opening and closing. Villagers too were stunned, some seemed to be scared, others simply awed. Ignoring the reactions of the crowd, Naruto finished tying his forehead protector on. With a quick motion, Naruto removed his cloak, allowing it to flutter to the ground. As he finished he smirked at the Uchiha across from him.

"Well, I've been waiting five years for this so lets not waste anymore time."

Sasuke nodded. "I've been waiting for this too Naruto, lets get started."

With that the Uchiha drew his blade.

"Hold on!" At this shout Sasuke merely sighed in annoyance, while Naruto actually looked a little worried. Sakura had gone from shocked to pissed. "What the hell do you think you are doing?! You disappear for five years and then you just show up and pretend not to know us? I'll kill you!"

"Now, now Sakura I did it for you. I brought him back. You really can't be made at me for that now can you?" Naruto tried to placate the enraged girl.

"Not be mad! Five years damn it! We didn't even know if you were alive!" Sakura began to stomp her way towards the now terrified looking Naruto. Naruto's friends were starting to look pissed. Tsunade on the other hand was beginning to look amused at the scene. The council members… were still gaping.

"It was necessary Sakura. Just calm down. There's no need for unnecessary violence. If you knew where I was then you would all send someone to go force me to come back. I couldn't do that before I finished you see?" Naruto was now starting to back up as Sakura continued to stomp closer.

"What about the last two years then? Asshole!"

"I knew that I would have gotten in trouble so I tried to come up with a plan to get back into Konoha without getting arrested. I also found a way to remove the cursed seal! It worked right? So…no hard feelings, okay?"

"Die!" Naruto dove out of the way of Sakura's fist, which managed to mangle a rather large area of training field, just in time. As he stared at the mangled remains of what was once flat, solid ground he found himself able to say only one thing.

"Scary…"

Tsunade gave a kind of nervous laugh. "Uh… Sakura? I don't think we need to kill him you know? It would kind of defeat the point of him being back in the village, now wouldn't it?"

Sakura paused obviously debating the merits of killing her former teammate. Finally after a long pause, she pointed straight at him while giving him a look that told him that he was not off the hook yet.

As Sakura made her way back to her two teachers, Naruto made his way back towards Sasuke, who seemed to be fighting down a smirk.

"I'm beginning to have doubts, if Sakura can scare you that easily."

"That's different! Shut up, I thought you wanted to get this started?"

Sasuke lost the battle and his smirk was now full blown. "That's right I do. Now I don't want this fight to be too short, so here, watch closely."

Electricity began to flicker over Sasuke's body as well as crackling down the length of his blade. Sasuke gave a slightly maniacal grin as he spoke the name of his technique.

"Chidori Nagashi (One Thousand Birds Current). You had better find a way to counter it or else this fight will be over before it begins. Here I come!"

Sasuke surged forward lightning crackling around his blade. Lightning fast, he struck downward, straight at Naruto's head.

Naruto raised his arm, a shimmer appearing in the air around his hand, and blocked Sasuke's blade with the sword that had just appeared in his hand. Even as Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, Naruto drew back his other arm as if to stab Sasuke. Driving his arm forward another sword appeared in his hand, heading straight towards Sasuke's face. Sasuke flipped backwards narrowly escaping severe injury, or worse. Landing, Sasuke reached up and lightly rubbed his thumb across the shallow cut he had just received.

"Your sword never made contact." Sasuke said in an almost accusatory tone. "Not only that but you were not effected by the Chidori Nagashi. You are using wind elemental chakra."

Naruto chuckled. "Very lucky for me isn't it Sasuke? I'm the type that's best against you."

Sasuke shook his head as a smirk appeared on his face. "You need every advantage you can get. This advantage of yours won't even slow me down." Sasuke raised his sword once again.

"You'd better stop underestimating me, Sasuke." Naruto leapt forward swinging his blade downwards in a viscous arc. Sasuke swung his blade upwards into a perfect block. But something happened that stunned nearly all the people there. Naruto's blade seeming to pass through Sasuke's as if it was insubstantial. Sasuke managed to react swiftly to this unexpected event, but even as he leapt away from Naruto, the sword bite into his flesh. Sasuke glared at Naruto suspiciously as a thin stream of blood flowed from the cut to his chest.

"What the hell was that? I blocked your strike."

"It's my unique fighting style. A style of swordsmanship that is absolutely unblockable."

Sasuke frowned. "That's impossible. There is no such thing as an unblockable sword style."

Naruto laughed. "Yes that was true, up until about a year ago anyways!" Naruto raised his blades in preparation of an attack. "Well Sasuke, do you want to make the next move, or should I?"

As both held their ground, neither willing to make the first move, Sakura took the opportunity to turn to her teachers and ask a question that had been bothering her from the beginning of the fight.

"Where did Naruto's swords come from?"

The answer however, came from her other side.

"He released them from seals."

Sakura turned and saw that it was Tenten who had answered her. Sakura also noticed that several of Naruto's friends and classmates had gathered around her as well, presumably to discuss the shocking reappearance of their long lost friend. Sakura for the time being however, was more focused on getting her questions answered to pay them much mind.

"But there was no smoke, or a popping noise like when a person releases something from a seal."

Tenten nodded. "It is possible to release something without smoke. It's usually preferred though, so an opponent can't immediately tell what it is you have. It's to buy a momentary advantage. But the smoke is optional. I don't know how he released it without some kind of sound however."

"He modified the seal used to hold the weapons." Sakura, along with most of the group turned to see Kougi standing a bit behind them. Even further back they could see Kokorozashi and Doki, who was still on his shoulder, pushing their way closer.

"But how did he modify the seal?" Sakura questioned, Kougi nodded.

"Normally when an object is released from a seal it forces the air from the place that the object is going to occupy. This rapid movement of air causes a sudden noise. To counter this indicator that he is releasing something from a seal, Naruto modified the seal so that it sealed the air from where the sword is going to be even as the sword itself appears there. This makes it so that the air does not get rapidly pushed away. Thus the release of the swords cause no audible noises."

Those who had heard the explanation digested this for a moment. They were however, brought out of their contemplation by Naruto's sudden laughter.

"Oh, don't tell me Sasuke that after all your talk and boasting you are afraid to attack!"

Sasuke frowned at Naruto's remark. "No, the advantage in a fight many times lies with the defender. Attacking leaves one open to counter-attack."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Really? I never knew that."

Sasuke scoffed, "And you claim to be strong."

Naruto shrugged, "But no one has ever lasting more than a few seconds against my style when I was going full out so I guess it's never really applied to me."

Sasuke gave a snort of amusement. "You really haven't changed after all have you?"

Naruto shrugged again. "You haven't changed either have you?"

Sasuke looked down. "No. I haven't changed. In fact I have pushed myself to stay as close to the way I was when I left as possible. I have kept myself separate from others as much as possible. I have formed no significant bonds since my return. You see… in that battle, at the valley, I may have only won due to the advantages I had at the time. When we fought it was meant to be a battle to see who was right. You or me. You fighting to keep our bonds, I was fighting to sever them… I need an answer Naruto. I can't live with doubt, I need to know which of us was right!"

Sasuke's head snapped up and he stared fiercely at Naruto. Naruto on the other hand was nodding sadly. "You want to know if it was for nothing, you trying to flee. That's what's really eating at you. You don't want to acknowledge that for all your running away from Konoha you could have gotten just as strong, if not stronger here."

"So you understand. You were always good at understanding things like this, even if you were a moron at everything else. I can't wait. I need to know now."

"Well then, I guess I ought to start things off again," Naruto replied cheerfully. "It would just feel wrong for you to be the impatient one in this fight, so I'll get things rolling then."

Naruto surged forward, both of his swords weaving a deadly pattern as he approached his long time rival. Sasuke, sharingan blazing, dashed forward with equal fervor. When the two mighty forces meet it became one of the most unusual matches many of the shinobi present had ever seen. There was no loud clashing of blades, or screaming of jutsus. In fact the only noise present was rustling of their clothes as they moved and the whistling of blades through the air. Sasuke, with his sharingan, was evading Naruto's blades with near perfect precision. Sliding between strikes with barely a centimeter to spare, his sword moved with inhuman precision, taking advantage of every opening. Naruto was unrelenting, unceasing in his veritable whirlwind of strikes. Every time Sasuke tried to land a blow, Naruto's barrage of attacks would force him to break off the attack.

It was over a minute before contact was made at all between the two combatants and if it were not for Naruto's wind elemental chakra, blood would not even have been drawn. Naruto ducked a blow, Sasuke's blade coming so close to Naruto's head that it severed a few hairs. Naruto's blade had in the meantime, carved a thin, shallow line across Sasuke's nose. The two fighters both broke away from each other each trying to put distance between them. They paused catching their breath. After a moment, Naruto began to smile.

"You must hate it, doubting yourself. You went so far down the path you thought was best and now you can't stand the thought that you were wrong."

Sasuke frowned. "I'm merely using this as an opportunity to quell the few doubts I may have. I am sure that I will emerge triumphant from this fight. This is no different from the fight we had at the valley, except for us starting on more even ground, of course. However I will still prove to be superior."

Naruto shook his head. "So that's why you showed me your Chidori Nagashi. I was wondering why you would demonstrate your technique to me prior to the fight if you wanted an even match. Your trying to recreate our fight at the valley. At that fight we both knew each others finishing moves. For this fight you showed me a technique and forced me to show one in turn, my ability to use wind element chakra. Are you really that trapped in the past?"

Sasuke glared. "I'm not trapped in the past. Your talking nonsense, lets continue."

Naruto frowned thinking. "You are trapped in the past. Your obsessed with you're the murders your brother committed, which was in the past. You desire to know if you truly beat me all those years ago. Your desire to figure out which of us is stronger comes from your obsession with the past. You hate for things to change, and when they do you try to destroy whatever it is that caused this change. Like when you tried to kill me, I was threatening your position as the best of the rookies. As soon as it looked like I was better, off you go. And when I followed, you took that opportunity to try and kill me. The greatest example however is your brother, he changed everything for you."

"Shut up!" Sasuke growled. "I said lets keep fighting." With a snarl, Sasuke leapt forward to continue there battle.

As Sasuke and Naruto clashed once more, Sakura turned to the ever growing group of friends and teachers who had gathered there.

"I still don't get it. Usually when you watch shinobi fight, the secrets to their techniques start to become obvious. But I still have no idea how Naruto gets through Sasuke's blocks!" Sakura looked towards Tenten, resident weapons master and the one to help her with her last question. Her response came from her other side though.

"It has something to do with seals placed on his arms." Sakura turned and saw that it was Neji, byakugan activated who had answered her. Seeing confusion on the faces of those present Neji clarified.

"He is sending chakra through seals that he has on his arms, on a regular basis. The flow of chakra coincides with his strikes." Kakashi frowned.

"Are you sure? Can you take a closer look at the moment he sends the chakra through the seals?"

Neji nodded. He starred intently at the fight for a few moments, before stiffening and turning sharply to look at Kakashi, a startled expression on his face.

"It's two pulses of chakra close together! Did yo-… How did you know?"

Kakashi nodded. "I had a suspicion when you first mentioned the seals, it seemed like it would work when I thought about it." Tenten gasped as understanding hit her.

"The same way he unsealed his swords at the beginning of the fight!"

Kakashi nodded. Tenten turned to the others excitedly.

"He's sealing and unsealing the swords almost simultaneously! First, as the blade is about to make contact with Sasuke's, Naruto seals it away. His hand still moves however, so when he unseals the sword it's beyond his opponents block. Since the sword is only gone for only an instant, especially since they can both strike so fast, we don't even really register that it's gone. The blade can't be blocked because it disappears whenever you try to block it!"

"It seems that the young Naruto has truly entered the Springtime of Youth!"

As they turned to greet this newcomer, many of those present had looks of terror upon their faces.

"Hello Gai. What brings you here?" Tsunade asked.

"I heard that there was a match going on between two students of my hip rival Kakashi. Furthermore, Naruto has been a great inspiration to my adorable student Lee! His defeat of Neji and his mighty attempt at retrieving his friend inspired both Lee and I to work even harder! Is that not right Lee!"

"Yes Gai-sensei! Naruto's Youth is an inspiration to us all!"

"Oh, Lee. I didn't notice you there. I thought that the two of you usually trained at this time."

"Normally yes. However we were informed by a ninja that one Uzumaki Naruto had returned. We decided that it would be for the best if we came to greet him immediately. To do otherwise would be most un-Youthful. Now we see him in match with Sasuke. He is doing very well, although his excessive leg movements are allowing Sasuke more openings. He more than makes up for it though with his burning intensity!"

Kakashi looked at Gai curiously. "Wait. You said that Naruto's footwork is flawed? Naruto's entire fighting style seems impressive to me."

Gai nodded. "Indeed it is. However there is a tiny amount of unnecessary movement, it's very subtle but it is there."

"Sensei are you sure? I think I would have notices if he had…" Neji trailed off. Those near him noted that his eyes seemed to bulge from his head and all the blood seemed to drain from his face. "That's why he's been fighting so intensely. Not to get a hit on Sasuke, Naruto knows that Sasuke's to fast. He's distracting him, the flaw with his feet it's intentional."

Even as the group was digesting this new development Sasuke choose this moment to begin taunting Naruto.

"It's only a matter of time now Naruto!" Sasuke was grinning as his blade arced dangerously close to Naruto's side. "Thanks to the sharingan I'm reading your style and adapting to it. Soon it will be worthless against me."

Naruto sighed. "I suppose that is true. I guess I need to take this up a notch, right Sasuke?" Naruto broke out of the pattern of dodging and attack the two had formed, he dove forward onto his hands and used the momentum of his fall to twist into a upside down scissor kick. Sasuke flipped backwards to avoid it, landing a few meters away.

"Is that the best you got? You need more than that to beat me." Sasuke smirked. Naruto cocked his head.

"How about this then? You remember this don't you Sasuke?" Sasuke was not put off by Naruto's words, he was used to him talking big. It was the expression on his face that worried him. It was the same expression he had when he had set the trap for Kakashi on the day after their graduation. The expression that he wore when an opponent would dispel one of his shadow clones, believing it to be Naruto. The expression that meant Naruto knew something he didn't. Worse, knowing Naruto, it was going to be something completely off the wall.

Naruto fell to his knees, even as he slammed his palms into the ground. As his hands touched the ground a giant seal appeared, surrounding Sasuke. Sasuke had leapt into motion as soon as the seal had begun to appear and dove over the perimeter just as the electricity began to flare. Sasuke landed outside the seals, teeth gritted in anger and pain as his leg twitched and spasmed, having barely been caught in the electricity. Sasuke's sword sunk into the ground a few meters away, due to him reflexively dropping it when the electricity had surged through him.

It took Sasuke a moment to notice that the seal had vanished, and another moment to note that a shadow had seemed to fall over him. Looking upwards, Sasuke saw Naruto descending towards him both blades pulled back ready to strike. Rather than letting Naruto cleave him into bloody chunks and lacking a blade with which to counterattack, Sasuke took the only available option left to him. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrists as he struck, stopping the attack. The two of them pushed against the other for a moment struggling for dominance, Sasuke took the opportunity to get in a verbal strike.

"If that is supposed to be you taking it up a notch then I'm not impressed."

Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto swell up with indignation. Then he realized that it wasn't indignity that Naruto was swelling up with, he was just taking an extremely deep breath. The same kind of breath that he, Sasuke, took before using a katon jutsu. Naruto couldn't use a katon jutsu though because he was preventing him from making hand seals. Right?

Sasuke's eyes went wide as fire, so hot it seemed to shine like a sunbeam, burned up the small space between them.

**AN: Cliffhanger! I will explain how Naruto is doing the seeming impossible in the next chapter. I also will explain the sealless jutsu (and it's not that he has great chakra control, or that he has 'mastered' the technique. Actually it's one of my more unique (or so I tell myself) idea's. The fights just getting started so hang on, this is where I start to pull out all the stops (especially for Sasuke). Also before I hear a ton of complaints about possible overpowered character, in this chapter or the next, I would like to say one thing. For those of you who keep up to date on the manga, you know how strong Sasuke and Naruto are now, and the high powered moves that they used? Well this is two years after that, two years foe them to take themselves to even greater heights. That thought should scare you, cause it does me. Oh, and once again I apologize for my laziness.**


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